Welcome to Wizarding School
by chocolatecatsconfusion
Summary: [AU] No, it's not Hogwarts. It's Fiore Academy; a school for magic users that aims to educate some of the rowdiest wizards in Fiore. Lucy and Juvia arrive separately as new students, excited for a fresh start, only to be thrown into the chaos. It's not so bad though when a certain ice mage and fire dragon slayer are there to help them. [SoL] [NaLu, Gruvia, GaLe, Jerza & more]
1. A Fresh Start

**_In the Kingdom of Fiore, on the outskirts of a town called Magnolia, lies Fiore Academy. Funded and run by the Magic Council, the school welcomes young wizards from across the land to study and receive top notch magical training. It is here that Lucy Heartfilia meets her future Fairy Tail guild mates…_**

* * *

Lucy struggled up the path to student housing with her two large suitcases. More than once on her journey over, she had weighed the pros and cons of summoning Virgo for help. In the end, the cons won out every time.  
She was starting at a brand new school and hoped to make some friends as quickly as possible, so somehow she felt summoning the strange spirit around strangers wouldn't make her the most popular girl on the block.

As she turned the corner, a red brick building came into view with a smooth white sign reading 'Student Apartments – Magnolia Building'.

"About damn time." She grumbled to herself, making her way to the door.

The celestial mage checked the piece of paper she was holding and was relieved to see she was going to be living on the second floor. The building had 5 floors and she wasn't keen on the thought of hauling her giant bags up several flights of stairs.

As she began to climb the stairs, she heard footsteps and giggles sounding on the floor above. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized the moment she'd longed for was finally here. She was finally going to meet some real people and hopefully make some friends for the first time in her life.

She had been happy to finally say goodbye for good to the mansion. While it did hold some happy memories, there were too many sad ones to count. She had lost her mother, grieved for her alongside her father, and then slowly watched her father drift away day by day.

It took nearly 9 years, but eventually she had been able to mend her relationship with her father. Unfortunately, their newfound happiness had been cut short by his sudden death a few months later. Unable to stand the big, empty house any longer; Lucy had tearfully dismissed the servants, packed up whatever she could and left.

She had chosen Fiore Academy as her fresh start.

Lucy made her way down the hallway with renewed energy until she stopped in front of a door on her right. "Room 212," she recited the number aloud to herself. "This is it…"  
She turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

At first glance, the apartment was much more pleasant than she had expected it to be. She had always pictured student accommodation to be old and dingy but the school itself was only a few years old so it made sense the buildings would still be in excellent shape. The wide entryway opened right up into a living and dining area, and when Lucy walked in she found three sets of eyes looking up at her from the couch.

The three girls on the couch smiled as Lucy stood there, suddenly tongue tied now that she was finally in the presence on her new roommates.  
One of them, a tall, pretty girl with long red hair, stood up and walked towards her.

"Hi, I'm Erza. It's nice to meet you," she held out a hand, which Lucy shook gratefully. "I'm guessing you're our new roommate?"

The other girls got up and crowded around them as Lucy spoke. "Yeah, my name is Lucy. It's nice to meet you!"

A small girl with periwinkle blue hair stepped forward with a big smile. "It's nice to meet you Lucy, my name is Levy!"

"And I'm Cana!" A girl with long brown hair smiled and gave a small wave.

 _'Is she holding a flask?!_ '

"It's nice to meet you guys. I can't believe we'll be living together," Lucy giggled. "This is so exciting!"

Erza smiled at her enthusiasm. "Well, Levy and I will be sharing this apartment with you. Cana lives down the hall in 206."

"But don't worry, I visit all the time." Cana added, winking.

"It's true." Levy smirked at the brunette, who was now taking a long swig from her flask.

"I'm assuming you're a new student Lucy?" Erza asked. The blonde girl nodded shyly.

"That's cool," Levy smiled. "We've actually seem to have a lot of new students this year. It's nice to see the academy has become so popular."

"If you don't mind my asking," Cana closed the flask, turning to Lucy. "What type of magic do you use?"

"Not at all, I'm a celestial wizard." Lucy jiggled the set of golden keys at her hip.

The girls' eyes widened as they looked at the keys with interest.

"How fascinating," Erza said, her eyes still on the keys. "Celestial wizards are rare in this world."

The other girls nodded in agreement.

"It's true," Lucy chuckled at their expressions. "The only other Celestial wizard I've ever met was my mother. She was one of the best. I hope to make her proud one day. What about you guys?"

"I use Requip Magic," Erza motioned to the armor she wore. "Cana uses Card Magic, and Levy uses Solid Script Letter Magic."

"Oh co-" Lucy began to say, but was interrupted by a clap of thunder.

All four girls turned to the window in astonishment.

"Was it not beautiful and sunny like a minute ago?!" Cana pressed her face against the window as it began raining heavily outside.

"Well, now that I think about it, it was starting to look pretty gloomy out there while I was walking over…" Lucy stood there with the other girls, gaping at the bizarre weather change until she realized something. "Hey, since Cana doesn't actually live here; we're still expecting another girl, aren't we?"

"That we are," Erza nodded. "I wonder what she's like."

* * *

Juvia hesitantly made her way through the gates of the Academy, silently willing herself to keep her rain at bay. Her ability to conjure rain was, sadly, something she had never been able to control fully. She had spent the last 8 months working hard to gain some semblance of control over it, and while she had finally managed to stop the constant rain, she still had yet to see the clear blue sky. Her gloomy rain clouds continued to follow her, threatening to spill at any moment.

She continued to walk up the path until she realized she had no idea where she was. The school campus was much larger than she had anticipated and most of the buildings had the same red brick exterior. Groaning, she took a chance and turned down the narrow path to the right towards a cluster of buildings. About halfway there, she realized they were the student residence buildings. She was supposed to be looking for the admissions office.

 _'Where could it-?'_ Her thought was cut short by a voice behind her.

"Uh, hey," She turned to see a boy about her age with spiky black hair, standing there without a shirt on. "Are you lost?"

She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out as her gaze slowly raked across his broad shoulders, over the tattoo on his chest and down his well-muscled torso. She wasn't sure why the boy was shirtless, but she certainly wasn't complaining.

"Um, are you okay?" Her eyes snapped back up to his and she was met with a look of confusion. She immediately clamped her mouth shut and blushed a deep pink shade, realizing she had been standing there gawking at his half-naked state.  
Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice.

"Y-yes, Ju-I'm sor-sorry," Her words came out jumbled as she struggled to regain her composure. "I'm new here and I'm a little lost."

He chuckled at her flustered state, surprising her. "Hey, no problem," He grinned. "I'm more than happy to help out. Where is it you need to go?"

"The admissions office." She answered, attempting a small smile.

"Cool, I'll take you there." He turned and began walking in the opposite direction down the path.

As they continued walking, she decided to break the silence.

"Um…," She started, a blush creeping up on her cheeks when he met her gaze. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt...?"

He stopped and looked down in horror at his unclad torso.

"Aw crap!" He yelled, spinning around wildly, looking around him. "When the hell did that happen?!"

She watched him with wide eyes as he searched the ground, scratching his head.

 _'He really didn't notice?'_ She thought, and she couldn't help but giggle.

At the sound he stopped and looked at her with a frown.

"Oi, it's not that funny!" But he couldn't help but smile himself as her giggles grew even louder.

She looked up mid-giggle and saw him smiling sheepishly at her as a faint blush dusted his cheeks.

 _'He really is quite handsome.'_ She thought, as her giggles subsided and she met his gaze.

As Juvia continued to gaze into his dark eyes, she felt a strange warm, fluttery sensation in her stomach. She had never felt something like this before.

She looked down at her stomach, placing a hand tentatively on it, before looking back up to see him coughing and blushing furiously.

"Let's keep going," he turned away, continuing down the path. "We're almost there."

She jogged to catch up to him and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

When they reached the building, she turned to face him with a shy smile.  
"Thank you."

"No problem," He grunted, looking down at his feet. "You okay now?"

"Yes, thanks again for the kindness you've shown me today." She saw a look of surprise mixed with something she couldn't quite read flash across his face but he simply nodded and turned to leave.

As he turned the corner and disappeared, Juvia realized she had never gotten his name.

 _'Ah well,'_ She thought, smiling to herself. _'There aren't many shirtless guys wandering around here. Perhaps I'll see him again soon.'  
_  
Then a terrible thought crossed Juvia's mind. Would he still show her the same kindness once he discovered her powers?

The thought of losing her first potential friend filled her with sorrow, and she knew she had lost control of her power once again when she heard the start of the soft rainfall outside.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading :) please review if you can, good or bad - it helps me write better :)**

 **This story is gonna have a bit of a slow start and for that I apologize. I have stuff planned for later chapters but if I don't give some background stories first nothing will make sense. Hopefully you stick around :)**

 **Also quick note: Juvia is one of my favourite characters and I wrote her a little differently than most people do. I'm sure many will find her OOC but I decided to focus more on how she was before Fairy Tail and before meeting Gray. She's such an interesting character with an amazing capacity for love considering all the crap she's been through so I'm going to be focusing more on that than her crazy stalker stuff. Even though I do love her hilarious antics involving Gray so I will be sure to throw a few in.**

 **Also, I watch the dub and read the manga so I was a little torn on how to write her but I decided with first person because she has a ton of dialogue in this story and third person was giving me a headache to write. I'll have her slip up occasionally in future dialogue though because the third person is still fun to work with.**


	2. Here Comes the Sun

**A/N: Soooo it looks like I'll be aiming to get a new chapter out every Wednesday. It may not happen as I tend to get major writers block and I am going into Midterm season at university, but I do have some fun ideas for this story so I'll try my best.**

 **If there's anything you want to see, lemme know (seriously, I'm just writing this for kicks, I'd love to hear peoples ideas), I may be able to add it into the story ;) Thanks to those who have reviewed, favourited and followed so far!**

 **I promise things will get much more interesting with Chapter 3... I just wanted to get all the intro stuff out of the way in the first couple of chapters :)**

 **Without further ado, here's Chapter 2...**

* * *

After spending almost an hour in the Admissions office, filling out forms, talking to an advisor and collecting her New Student Package; Juvia was finally able to leave.

As she stepped outside, she saw students running with their jackets over their heads, cursing the bizarre change in weather.

She sighed sadly and continued walking; she was used to others complaining about her rain.

It had been that way since she was a child. Her parents had barely tolerated her, while the other children at school had shunned her.

The whole concept of friendship was completely foreign to her.

She had never known it, though she had spent many years hoping to.

She had been blessed with powerful water magic, but it came at the price of loneliness.

As she watched her fellow classmates run from the storm, anger and hurt swelled inside of her and thunder sounded in the sky above.

She had been foolish, getting her hopes up once again.

One stranger's kindness didn't signify any sort of change. It was simply just another day in the life of gloomy Juvia.

* * *

After an hour of swapping life stories, Cana had gone back to her room to have dinner with her roommates.  
The other three girls remained seated on the floor, giggling at Erza's latest story.

"Wow," Lucy snorted between giggles which made the other girls laugh even harder. "Those Gray and Natsu guys sound like total knuckleheads."

"Indeed they can be, but despite their recklessness they really are good guys." Erza smiled fondly. "I love them dearly; they're like brothers to me."

Lucy nodded in understanding, feeling a small pang of jealousy. She hoped that one day she could be close enough to someone to consider them family like that.

"So Lu," Levy leaned in with a wink. "Any cute boys catch your eye yet?" 

Mercifully, the sound of their apartment door opening saved Lucy from having to answer that question.

They all turned to see a girl with pale skin and long wavy blue hair enter the room holding a single suitcase. She looked just as, or perhaps even more, nervous as Lucy had been when she had first arrived an hour earlier.

"Hello," She spoke, keeping her eyes downcast. "My name is Juvia Lockser."

"Ah, so you're our other new roommate." Erza smiled, holding out her hand.

"I'm Erza Scarlet. It's very nice to meet you."

Juvia looked up at the outstretched hand and smiled shyly as she shook it. "It's nice to meet you too."

"And I'm Levy," the smaller girl chimed in. "and this is Lucy. Lucy is also new here!"

"Glad I'm not the only newbie here." Lucy winked.

Juvia looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment. "You're all so nice…"

Erza looked at her with a mix of surprise and amusement. "Well of course we are, why wouldn't we-"

She wasn't able to finish her question though, as a loud crashing noise and what sounded like glass breaking came from the courtyard below just outside the window.

Erza stiffened and marched over to the window, peering down. "That better not be who I think it is…" She grumbled under her breath.

"Was that thunder?" Levy asked, following Erza to the window.

"No, I don't think it's raining out there anymore." Lucy said, trailing behind her.

Erza turned from the window with a terrifying expression on her face, making all 3 girls leap backwards.

"Natsu." She growled, storming past them and out the door of the apartment.

Levy moved to follow Erza out the door and beckoned Lucy and Juvia to follow her.

"Uh," Juvia dropped her suitcase, turning to follow the two girls. "Who's Natsu?"

Levy smirked and rolled her eyes. "Follow me and you'll find out."

* * *

The courtyard between the girls and boys dorms was a complete disaster. There was glass everywhere from a smashed window; smoke everywhere from mini fires scattered all over the grassy area and a few bricks had even fallen out around the side of the building.

In the middle of the mess were two boys yelling at each other as Erza closed in on them.

While Juvia didn't recognize the pink haired boy; she recognized the shirtless, dark haired boy immediately.

"Don't tell me you're too chicken to fight me Gray!" The pink haired boy yelled, circling the other boy like a vulture with its prey.

Juvia noticed the other boy, Gray, was still sitting on the ground. As she moved closer to get a better look, she saw several deep cuts along his back.

 _'Probably from all the broken glass.'_ She thought. She wished she could run to him and help in some way.

However, one look at Erza's expression was enough to keep her standing where she was.

She was pissed. Yet she hadn't made a move yet.

Juvia heard Levy whisper behind her, "She's probably just gonna let them get it out of their system first. There's not much more they can destroy now that they're outside."

"Are you sure about that?" Lucy muttered sarcastically.

"You're an idiot Natsu," Gray scowled up at him from where he sat. "You can't just push someone out a second storey window when you feel like a fight."

"Oh yeah?" Natsu crossed his arms with a smirk. "Says who?"

Gray just shook his head. "I'm not interested in beating you to a pulp right now, maybe some other time."

Unfortunately, this only riled Natsu up more. "Like you could beat me, Ice Princess!"

"I did the last two times, Flames for Brains!"

"Those didn't count!"

"How did they not count?!"

Natsu ignored the question. "I'm gonna beat you right now, fair and square!"

"Fair and square?" Gray looked at him incredulously. "You sneak attacked me and shoved me out a freaking window you asshole!"

"And now I've got you on solid ground, right where I want you." Natsu smirked, as if this had been the plan all along.

"I'm sick and tired of your pathetic half-assed attacks." Gray stood up slowly, shaking a little. "Why don't you give it your all for once?"

Juvia looked at Gray's leg and noticed a cut even larger than the others along it. She had to do something; there was no way he could fight with those injuries. She ran forward to help him as Natsu began his attack.

"Why you-" Natsu snarled and raised his hands to his mouth.

"Juvia stop!" She could hear Lucy and Levy's cries from behind her as she ran forward. Gray turned his head, noticing them for the first time, and his eyes widened as they locked on Juvia running towards him.

"Fire dragon roar!"

As Natsu yelled out his attack, Erza tackled him to the ground.

Unfortunately, she was too late. Erza had managed to cut off the attack but a giant ball of fire had made it out and, thanks to the tackle, was now headed straight for Juvia.

"Juvia get out of the way!" She heard Erza yell.

She froze mid-run, preparing to turn herself into water, when she was tackled sideways.

Lucy and Levy leaped out of the way as the fireball hit the bench beside them and watched in horror as it burst into flames.

* * *

Juvia opened her eyes and found herself covered by a dark object. She tried wiggling free and heard a groan from above her.

"Sorry," She recognized Gray's voice as he lifted himself off of her and looked her in the eye. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

His eyes were full of… concern?

Juvia couldn't remember the last time someone had looked at her like that.

"I'm fine, thank you for saving me." She smiled, trying her best to ignore the warmth in her cheeks.

"No problem." He nodded and looked over at the flaming bench. She followed his gaze and giggled.

"I'll fix that." She said, raising her hand in the direction of the bench.

Water shot out of her hand and doused the flames immediately.

Gray's eyes widened and then he smirked. "So you're a water mage huh?"

Juvia nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so."

"What do you mean by that?" He looked surprised.

"Well… I like my powers," She bit her lip, wondering if she should even be talking to a total stranger about this. "But I hate my ability to conjure rain. It's followed me my whole life and I've never been able to fully control it. It always scares people away."

She looked up and saw him observing her thoughtfully.

"I don't know what kind of people you hung around," he said. "But I think that's a pretty cool power if you ask me."

Juvia blinked up at him a couple of times. "You do?"

"Well yeah," He smiled. "It kinda reminds me of my powers. I'm an ice wizard and I can conjure snow. My master taught me how to control it though."

"That must've been nice," Juvia smiled wistfully. "I never had a master, or anyone for that matter."

"Well hey, you have me now." Gray was really smiling now and noted the look of disbelief on Juvia's face.

"That's right, I'll help you with your powers. After all, water and ice work well together right? We could make a great team."

Juvia felt herself smile, really smile, for the first time in ages. It was like something had burst inside of her and happiness flooded her insides.

The feeling of acceptance.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster, by the way." He smiled, offering her his hand. "We never exchanged names the first time we met, did we?"

"No we didn't" She giggled as she took his hand. "My name is Juvia Lockser."

Suddenly, a bright light filled the sky, causing Juvia to look up in wonder as the clouds above parted.

"Hey, the sun is finally out again." Gray chuckled looking up as well.

"That's… the sun?" She gazed upwards using one hand to shield her eyes. "I've never seen it before… It's beautiful."

She felt Gray's gaze on her, but found herself unable to turn away from the sight above.

He let out a low chuckle. "Yeah… it really is."

* * *

"Uh… is he gonna be okay?" Lucy asked, watching from a safe distance as Erza unleashed her wrath on Natsu.

"Yeah, don't worry," Levy giggled. "Natsu's a lot tougher than he looks."

Lucy winced as she watched Erza point one of her swords at his throat. Natsu looked utterly terrified.

"What kind of magic was he using anyway? It looked like some kind of advanced fire magic." Lucy asked, turning to Levy.

"Pretty much," Levy smirked. "Natsu is a fire dragon slayer. Dragon slayers are super rare and not to mention crazy powerful."

Lucy looked back over at Erza towering over a trembling Natsu.

"If he's so powerful, why is he so scared of Erza?"

Levy chuckled. "Oh he's powerful, but he's no match for Erza's power. He's never beat her in a fight before."

The two girls turned back to Natsu and Erza's confrontation.

"Oh c'mon Erza cut it out!" Natsu yelled, finally crawling away. "It wasn't just me, Gray did this too!"

" _You_ started it." Erza growled.

" _He_ told me to give it my all!" Natsu crossed his arms, pouting.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle. He looked like a 5 year old being given a time out.

"He did say that, didn't he?" Erza turned slowly to where Gray was sitting with Juvia.

Natsu chuckled as Erza turned her attention away from him and onto the unsuspecting Gray.

"I'm not done with you yet." She turned back to him with a lethal expression, silencing him. 

"Gray Fullbuster," She yelled. "Explain yourself."

At the sound of his name, Gray shot up and crawled behind Juvia.

"Don't hide behind that poor girl you coward." Erza pulled out her sword. "Face me like a man."

"I rather not." Gray muttered from behind the water mage. 

A loud laugh from the doorway of the boy's dorm made them all turn around.

"Erza Scarlet," a tall boy with blue hair and a red tattoo over his right eye stepped out into the courtyard. "You haven't changed one bit."

The others all turned back to Erza, waiting for her to unleash some form of hell on the guy who dared to laugh at her.

Instead, she stood there with her mouth open, staring at him.

"Jellal." She finally smiled. "It's been a while hasn't it."  
 _  
_

* * *

Lucy walked over to where Natsu sat in the grass, gaping at the scene before him.

"Need a hand?" She smiled, offering her hand, as he looked up at her.

He gave her a toothy grin and grabbed her hand. "Sure, thanks!"

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia, I'm new here."

"Nice to meet ya Lucy, I'm Natsu Dragneel."

Upon getting a closer look at Natsu, Lucy realized he was actually pretty good looking. He had big bright eyes, smooth skin and despite being on the shorter side, he was quite muscular.

Lucy's eyes were slowly skimming down his torso beneath the flaps of his vest before Natsu cleared his throat, making her jump and turn a bright shade of red.

"So, what guild are ya planning on joining?" He asked, thankfully he didn't seem to notice her red face.

"I've actually been looking at Fairy Tail for a while now," She smiled, covering her burning cheeks.

"Oh really?" Natsu's smile was ear splitting. "Well you're talking to the right guy. That's my guild!"

"Really?" Lucy beamed. She hadn't expected to meet a Fairy Tail wizard so quickly at school.

"Yeah," He gestured towards his shoulder. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize the emblem on my shoulder. Levy, Erza and Gray have them too."

"Wait," Lucy spun around to look at her roommates. "They're in Fairy Tail too?"

Natsu chuckled. "They sure are. I bet you have a lot of questions for them now."

Lucy grinned. "I sure do!"

"Well how about you stop by our guild party tomorrow night?" Natsu suggested. "Come meet the others and see what you think of our crazy family?"

 _'Family'_

Lucy's heart fluttered at the word. "I'd love that."

* * *

 **A/N: I kinda let Gruvia dominate another chapter again... oops. Ah well, I love them.**

 **I set up the end of this chapter so that NaLu gets a fighting chance in the next one lol.**

 **Fun fact: I wasn't even planning on introducing Jellal this chapter. I was just typing out the scene and thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if he stumbled across angry Erza kicking ass? I bet he'd get a kick outta that."**

 **(I decided to leave Jellal alone in my little AU story. Meaning they escaped the Tower of Heaven, lost touch and that's about it. The canon Jellal has to suffer enough as it is. I figured I'd give him a break in my story)**


	3. Fairy Tail (Part 1)

**A/N: Sorry this is a day late. Like I said before, university takes top priority and February is a crazy month for school.**

 ****This chapter will be part 1 of 2. I'll try to post part 2 by Sunday.**

 **Also, I understand that there are many Americans on this site. You have a different spelling of certain words such as 'favorite' 'favor' 'color'… This is totally fine, your country your rules. But in all other English speaking countries these words are written with 'ou' instead.**  
 **My point is that I've gotten a couple of messages telling me I'm spelling those words wrong and I'm not.  
**  
 ***There is no right or wrong here, both forms of spelling have been around for ages.***

 **If I have other spelling or grammar mistakes then feel free to message me and tell me what they are :)**

 **I hope you like chapter 3 :)**

* * *

 _The next day…_

Erza invited several other girls over to their place to get ready for the party that night, leaving little room to move around the apartment.  
Not that Lucy minded one bit. After being locked away in that big house for so long; a cozy apartment with good company was everything she could ask for and more.

Even so, she wasn't sure why some people seemed to gravitate towards her bedroom.

She walked in to find Cana rummaging through her closet while Juvia stood behind her looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Oh hey Lucy," Cana gave a quick wave before sticking her head back in the closet. "Do you have anything Juvia could borrow? She dresses like a nun."

"I do not!" Juvia huffed, looking down at the ground.

"Gotta step up your game if you wanna get in Gray's pants," Cana winked.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle as Juvia stuttered and turned beet red. She had been talking non-stop about Gray since yesterday. Lucy and the others had seen them interact after Natsu's fireball disaster; it was obvious there was something there.

The water mage was wearing an ankle length blue dress with long sleeves and boots. Not an inch of skin was showing. An outfit like that made sense in the winter, but it was late August and it was definitely way too hot outside to walk around like that.  
Cana had a point; the outfit needed to go.

"Actually, I think I have just the outfit for her." Lucy smiled, grabbing a pair of shoes and a couple of items off the middle shelf.

Juvia looked positively flustered now. "Oh no Lucy, you don't have to do this for me," She cried, waving her arms about. "I don't want to trouble you!"

"Not at all," Lucy winked, tossing the clothes to her. "I think you'll look great in this. The bathroom is across the hall, go change."

Juvia shook her head and muttered a soft "thank you" under her breath before turning and walking to the bathroom.

"So, you like playing matchmaker huh?" Lucy teased.

Cana snorted. "Not at all, that's Mirajane's job."

"Mirajane?" Lucy asked. The name sounded familiar.

"Mirajane Strauss, Fairy Tail's resident matchmaker," Cana smirked. "You'll meet her tonight at the party."

Lucy finally realized where she had heard the name before. Mirajane was Lisanna and Elfman's older sister. Lucy had only met Lisanna so far, but she had heard many things about the Strauss siblings.  
She also knew Mirajane as a model frequently featured in Sorcerer's Weekly. Lucy had almost every issue of the famous magazine.

"Damn, you look hot!" Cana whistled.

Lucy turned around to see Juvia standing there with the outfit she had picked out.

She wore a slinky black spaghetti strap crop top with a V-neck that amplified her cleavage and a long navy blue skirt with a thigh high slit up each side. The outfit was finished with a pair of sleek, strappy black heels.

Cana was right, Juvia looked amazing. There was no way Gray could miss her in that outfit.

Juvia blushed and crossed her arms across her chest. "I've never worn anything like this before. Isn't this too revealing?"

"For a Fairy Tail party?" Cana chuckled. "Nah, not at all."

"She's right, you look great," Erza popped up behind Juvia in the doorway, startling her. "You too Lucy, that's a great dress."

"Thanks!" Lucy beamed. She had purchased the lacy, black strapless dress especially for tonight and couldn't help but wonder what a certain pink haired dragon slayer would think of it.

"You look pretty hot yourself Erza," Cana winked. "Is Jellal making an appearance tonight?"

Erza's blush matched her hair. "He might be…" She admitted, taking a sudden interest in the doorframe.

Cana chuckled. "Those boys are gonna have heart failure. I can't wait."

* * *

Thanks to Makarov making the party open invitation, the guild hall was now packed with people and Natsu was having a hard time locating his friends.  
Finally he reached an opening in the crowd and found Gray standing by the bar, drink in hand, watching the door.

"Who ya waiting for, Frosty?" Natsu snickered, placing a hand on the ice wizard's shoulder.

"That girl from yesterday, Juvia," Gray answered, failing to catch the suggestive tone in Natsu's question. "I promised I'd show her around the guild. She's interested in joining."

"Oh yeah," Natsu remembered. "She and Lucy are roommates with Erza and Levy right?"

"Yeah… wait, Lucy?" Gray tore his eyes away from the door to look at the dragon slayer. "Was she the blonde girl you were with after the fight yesterday?"

"Yeah," Natsu grinned. "She's interested in joining as well. She seems pretty cool."

"Oh right, Erza mentioned her at breakfast this morning," Gray recalled, finishing off his drink and placing it on the bar. "She's a celestial wizard right? You don't see them often."

"Yeah they're pretty rare," Natsu's toothy grin widened. "I'm definitely gonna have to take her on a mission with me!"

"You guys look a little desperate, staring at the door like that."

The boys turned to see Cana sitting at the bar, beer in hand, with a sly grin on her face.

"You do know they're already here right?" She raised an eyebrow. "Ah, speak of the devil… hot blonde at 6 o'clock Natsu." She winked, motioning for him to turn around.

Before Natsu could process what Cana was saying, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

When he turned around, he was pretty sure his jaw unhinged. Or maybe his eyes popped out of his skull. He wasn't entirely sure. All he knew was he was having a _very_ unusual reaction to the girl in front of him.

Lucy stood before him in a _very_ short, strapless, lacy black dress that hugged every curve and showed off her ample cleavage.

Natsu had seen plenty of scantily clad women before – hell, Erza and Cana were anything but shy when it came to wardrobe choices – so he was surprised at how much the blonde girl in the tiny black dress was affecting him.

He felt his stomach flutter.

 _'It's gotta be the alcohol.'_ He thought, grimacing. He'd only had a couple of beers but he couldn't think of any other reason he'd be reacting this way to a girl.

"Hey Natsu," Lucy smiled coyly, stepping forward.

"Hey Lucy," He smiled, giving her his signature fanged grin. "Nice dress, you look great!"

"Thanks!" She blushed, maintaining eye contact.

The fluttering feeling in Natsu's stomach increased as he looked into the girls chocolate brown eyes.

 _'Oh man,'_ He thought. _'No more drinking after tonight. I feel like I'm on fire.'_

"Oooooo," Natsu snapped back to reality at the sudden squeal. Mirajane had come up beside them. "Who do we have here Natsu?"

"I'm Lucy," The celestial mage held out her hand with a giggle. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Lucy, I'm Mira," She took the girls hand with a big smile. "Are you Natsu's girlfriend?"

Lucy turned bright red and started spluttering. "N-no, I'm n-not his girlfriend, we just met yesterday!"

"Oh, that's too bad," Mira smiled sweetly. "You two would be so cute together!"

She then sauntered off, leaving a very red Natsu and seething Lucy in her wake.

"God, I love her." Cana cackled, throwing back the rest of her beer.

* * *

Gray was too busy watching Natsu and Lucy's awkward encounter with Mirajane to notice a certain blue haired water mage sidle up beside him.

"Hi Gray," He heard a soft voice at his ear, startling him.

"Juvia?!" He turned to face her, his jaw dropping much like Natsu's did, to his chagrin.

He had only met Juvia a couple of times before, but both times she had been dressed quite conservatively; covered from head to toe.

This time, her outfit left little to the imagination. Her top showed off her flat, pale stomach and large breasts while the slits in her skirt allowed her to put her long legs on display as she walked.

She had really nice legs.

Gray's eyes were still on them as she spoke up again.

"You look nice." She smiled shyly up at him, her deep blue eyes meeting his dark ones.

Gray gulped. In his head, his response played out perfectly, _"Thanks Juvia, you look nice too."_

Instead, to his horror, he responded with, "Yahafsah"

Juvia's smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of confusion. "Er, pardon me?"

Behind them, Cana burst out laughing while Natsu slithered up beside Gray whispering, "Smooth moves, Ice Princess."

"Oh shut it, Dragon Breath," Gray turned on him, redder than ever, momentarily forgetting the startled blunette standing before him. "I'm surprised you were able to pick your jaw up off the floor."

"Well at least I spoke the right language," Natsu countered, getting in Gray's face. "What the hell does Yahafsah mea-?"

"SILENCE." Erza stepped between the two boys, shoving their heads apart.

"Aw Erza, you're no fun," Cana pouted.

Lucy and Juvia yelped as Erza flung the boys back at them.

"These girls came here to have a good time and get to know our guild better," Erza glowered at them. "Not to watch you two imbeciles argue over this nonsense. Now go!"

"Aye sir!" The two boys yelped in unison before dragging the girls in opposite directions.

* * *

Levy was sitting at one of the tables near the bar chatting with Bisca and Lisanna when she noticed a certain Iron Dragon slayer skulking nearby.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she watched him glance over at her table then look away immediately when their eyes met.

Gajeel and Levy had met at the end of the last school year after he had started hanging around the Fairy Tail gang. He and Natsu had a rough start when they first met, fighting constantly, but eventually they had decided to turn their dragon slayer rivalry into a partnership that resulted in their first place win at the Academy's year end Magic games. After that, the fighting continued, but a tentative friendship was formed as well once Gajeel began to settle in with the Fairy Tail wizards.

Two weeks later he had become an official member.  
It had been Levy who dragged him to the guild that day to get the official stamp.  
A friendship had been slowly brewing between the two mages but, for some reason, Gajeel had begun distancing himself a few days later. Levy had tried to speak to him but every time she got close, he'd either pick a fight with Natsu or grab a mission off the request board and book it out of there.

After a summer vacation of constantly running off on missions – she had seen him 4 times the whole two months – he was forced back to Magnolia to start school again.

Now Levy finally had her chance to talk to him and she wasn't going to miss it.

She excused herself from the conversation and quickly made her way over to the Iron Dragon Slayer before he had a chance to escape.

* * *

"So let me get this straight… you were raised by a dragon?!"

Lucy wasn't sure if the fire dragon slayer sitting across from her had had too much to drink or if he just enjoyed making up stories.

"Yup!" Natsu's smile was huge. "Igneel was the best. He taught me everything I know."

"This is a joke right?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. It's not that dragons were unheard of in Fiore, but they definitely weren't known for fostering children.

Natsu's smile dropped immediately at the question and he cocked his head to the side. "Why would I joke about Igneel?"

His reaction surprised Lucy. He seemed genuinely confused.  
The more Lucy thought about it, the more it made sense. His fire dragon slayer magic was probably the only of its kind and his mannerisms were certainly dragon-like.

She thought about an article she'd read in Sorcerer's Weekly about a powerful Fairy Tail mage who went by the nickname of 'Salamander'.

Was that Natsu?

She regarded the dragon slayer critically. Natsu didn't look all that powerful, but then again she knew better than to judge based on appearances.

"Salamander?" She tried, and relaxed a bit when he looked up at her in surprise.

"Wow, I don't get called that very often."

So he was Salamander. "I saw the description in Sorcerer's Weekly," Lucy explained. "There were never any photos of this 'Salamander' so I wasn't sure… but you sure fit the description."

He scowled at the mention of the magazine. "Yeah, I refuse to let Jason get a picture of me. Not that he minds anyway," Natsu's nose wrinkled as he continued. "His readers love the whole 'mysterious powerful wizard' thing he's got going on."

Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Natsu being some dark, mysterious, sexy wizard that all the girls fawned over. Sure, he was good looking, but he just didn't have a dark and mysterious personality in the slightest.

"Are you disappointed it's me?"

She looked up in surprise at his question. He didn't seem worried or hurt, just genuinely curious.

"No," she said truthfully, smiling a little. "You're much more interesting than some tall, dark, sexy wizard."

Natsu looked at her for a moment before he said, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't just imply I am neither tall, dark nor sexy."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh at his tone and noticed he smiled as well.

"You know what I mean Natsu," she smiled kindly. "You're definitely not a disappointment to me. I wouldn't trade the Salamander in front of me for anyone else."

She saw his eyes light up a little before he coughed and said, "Okay, this conversation is starting to get a little too mushy for me."

Lucy smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah... Now how about you tell me a little more about this flying cat of yours?"

* * *

"Gajeel."

The dragon slayer turned to see the petite blunette girl he'd spent weeks trying to avoid suddenly standing before him.

He let out a sigh. He could run but what good would that do him?  
He had known all along he'd be confronted by Levy at some point, and the time had come.

"Levy." Came his tight lipped response.

"Wow," she rolled her eyes. "He speaks after all."

"What is it Shrimp? I don't got all day." He grumbled, breaking eye contact.

He winced.  
He hadn't meant to use any pet names. When he looked back down at her, her hard gaze had softened a bit.

"Gajeel, please," She pleaded, her voice wobbling slightly. "I want you to talk to me. What happened?"

"Nothing happened, nothing has changed." He looked down as he lied. It had been so easy to pretend nothing was going on when he was constantly away from her. Now, lying about the situation right to her face, he felt like complete scum.

 _'Perhaps it's time to tell her the truth,'_ He thought grimly. _'At least it'll be her running this time.'_

"I know you're lying to me," She scowled. "I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me."

To her surprise, he chuckled. "Yeah, I figured as much."

She sighed. "Look, just tell me what it is and we can work through it."

"This ain't some small problem you can solve shrimp," He grumbled. "Trust me; I'm doing you a favour by keeping my distance."

"A favour?!" She screeched. "How is cutting me off and hurting my feelings a favour?"

"It doesn't matter," He waved off the question. "You're better off not hanging around someone like me."

"You don't get to decide that you big dummy!" He groaned as she pounded her tiny fists on his chest in frustration.

"Look Shorty, I'll tell you the truth. Once I do, you'll understand why I did what I did."

She stopped and looked up at him with wide eyes.

Gajeel sighed. _'Here goes nothing. Please don't hate me Levy.'_

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the GaLe cliffhanger hehe.**

 **I had to split this into two parts because I have too much going on and wanted to get this out somewhat on time.**

 **I originally planned to focus on just NaLu and Gruvia but I ultimately decided to give the other ships stories as well. I have some fun ideas for them ;) you'll see much more in Part 2.**

 **Also, if Gruvia and NaLu seem like they're moving too fast and Gray and Natsu are already falling… they're not. They're just reacting like boys do to pretty girls haha. I intend to have a lot of fun with those two pairings.**

 **And for any Lyon fans out there, watch out for him in part 2 ;) he's gonna mix things up.**


	4. Fairy Tail (Part 2)

**A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed, it means a lot. Also, one of my lovely reviewers pointed out the story was moving kinda slowly and she's so right lol. Whoops! So I'll start trying to do 1-2 week jumps for the next chapters to get the ball rolling here. Sorry about that!**

* * *

"So you and Jellal, huh?" Mirajane winked as she refilled Erza's drink.

"It's not what you think," Erza said, willing her cheeks not to change colour and betray her. "He was a childhood friend of mine. We got separated after the Tower of Heaven escape and I've only seen him a few times since then."

"I dunno, you seem pretty smitten to me." Cana chuckled, planting herself on a stool next to the requip mage.

This time Erza blushed furiously. "I-it's not like that…"

"You said you saw each other a few times. Why didn't you team up again?" Mira questioned. "I mean, you were so close when you were kids. You'd think you would not want to lose each other again."

"We didn't lose each other. He knew what guild I was in and where I could be found." Erza explained. "The last time I saw him was 3 years ago and we had very different agendas at that time. He was working independently as a mage and had no interest in joining a guild. I, on the other hand, had been part of Fairy Tail for a while at that point and couldn't bring myself to leave the guild I'd grown to love so much and join him on his travels."

Mira cocked her head to the side and regarded the requip mage.  
"Even though you had grown to love him as well?"

Erza looked up from her drink into Mira's eyes. They weren't mocking in the slightest; they were full of understanding.

She sighed. "You are correct..."

The two girls said nothing; staring at her with wide eyes.

"Of course," Erza continued. "I only realized my feelings as he walked away that last time 3 years ago. It was after he vanished from sight that I realized how much I would miss him." Her vision began to blur at the memory. "He left this giant Jellal shaped hole in my heart and nothing for the last 3 years has been able to fit in it and fill it completely."

Cana grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze as she continued. "Don't get me wrong, I don't regret my decision to stay with Fairy Tail. Not even a little bit. What hurt me was that he never returned. He knew where my guild was, he knew how to contact me, but he didn't." She swiped at the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "For three whole years I had no idea if he was alive or dead. Then yesterday he just waltzed into that courtyard like no time had passed, finally freeing me from all the fear and sadness I'd felt. I was so relieved. Yesterday was the first time in years I felt that weight fully lift off my shoulders."

"I had no idea…"

All three girls jumped at the sudden voice behind them and turned to see Jellal standing there looking very upset.

Erza froze as she realized who was standing before her. She felt her entire body heat up and found herself unable to move or speak. She had never meant for him to hear any of that.

"And that's our cue to leave." Cana grabbed Mirajane by the arm and dragged her into the crowd.

"Erza, I'm so sorry…" Jellal took a tentative step forward, watching the girls face for any sign that might tell him to stay where he was. When he deemed it safe to continue, he walked straight up to her and grabbed her hand. "I had no idea you felt that way. It was never my intention to hurt you."

Erza opened and closed her mouth a few times until the words finally came out. "How much did you hear?"

"Uh…" He blushed looking away.

"I see." She sighed. She had been hoping to give their friendship a fresh new start and now that was potentially ruined. She glanced up at him; he had released her hand and was now shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

"I'm sorry Jellal; I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." She got up from her seat.

He looked up at her in astonishment. "What?! Uncomfortable? No I didn't-"

"It's fine," She interrupted. "I don't expect anything like that from you. I never have."

"But I-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "I'm going to go home; it's been a long day." She gave him a small smile. "I'll see you in class on Monday. Goodnight Jellal."

With that, she turned and walked towards the door, willing her unfallen tears to stay put until she was out of the building.

* * *

Gajeel and Levy stood in an almost unbearable silence before the dragon slayer finally spoke up.

"I left because we got too close," Gajeel said, keeping his eyes on his feet. "I couldn't handle being around you anymore."

Levy's eyes widened. "Why?"

"Because I was beginning to enjoy your company a little too much."

"That doesn't make any sense," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "That's a reason to hang around someone, not run away from them."

"C'mon Shrimp, you're smart. You must have some sort of idea of what's going on here," He rolled his eyes. "Don't make me spell it out for you."

"Actually, that's exactly what I'm going to make you do."

"This isn't a game Levy," He sighed.

"Says the guy who won't give me a straight answer." She huffed.

"Alright, alright…" He paused for a moment, gritting his teeth. "I like you."

When she didn't say anything, he continued, "I like you more than I should. I wasn't trying to hurt you; I was trying to make your life easier by keeping my sorry ass out of it. Guys like me don't end up with girls like you. You deserve prince charming, not the angry black dragon hanging around the tower."

She was still staring at him with a blank expression on her face and it was making him more and more anxious by the second.

After what felt like five minutes, he cleared his throat. "Well, I've said my part, I'm going to get Lily and go home. Take care Shrimp."

"Who says I want him?" She shouted suddenly, startling Max and Warren who were standing nearby.

"Man, I wonder what he did, she looks pissed…" He heard Max say as the two men slunk back into the crowd.

"What?" Gajeel questioned, ignoring the urge to punch Max in the face for the unnecessary comment. "Want who? What are you talking about?"

"Prince Charming, you idiot!" She yelled, attracting more unwanted attention to their conversation. Gajeel was starting to regret not taking the conversation outside. "Maybe I don't want him, maybe I want the dragon!"

"What?" He sputtered in disbelief. He hadn't expected this reaction from her at all. "No girl in her right mind wants the damn dragon Shrimp, she wants the prince!"

"Well then call me crazy." She crossed her arms defiantly.

"I will, because you are." He crossed his arms as well.

They stood there glaring at each other for god knows how long before she sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. "Look," She said more gently than before. "It's been a long day and I'm tired so I'm gonna go. We're going to continue this conversation though," She added decisively. "Meet me here next Friday after class."

He groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Yes Gajeel, you do," She rolled her eyes. "Because you and I are going on our very first date."

"No objections." She added, when she saw him open his mouth to argue.

With a satisfied smirk, she turned and strode back into the crowd leaving a stunned dragon slayer in her wake.

* * *

Juvia found she really enjoyed Gray's company. Conversations with him were interesting and his stories from past missions with his fellow guild mates showed he had an adventurous side she definitely wouldn't mind seeing more of. On top of all of this, he was incredibly good looking and nice to her.  
She had only met the guy yesterday and she already knew she was screwed.

She was falling for him at an alarming rate and she had no idea how to slow herself down before she got hurt. It was like falling without a parachute.

"I can't believe those two. When are they not fighting?" Lucy's voice pulled Juvia out of her thoughts and back to reality where they were standing in the middle of the guild hall watching Gray and Natsu go at it for the third time that evening.

Juvia really did enjoy Gray's company, but she could live without the constant fighting between him and Natsu. Lucy was right, it never seemed to stop. The only one who seemed to have any control over the two of them was Erza and she was nowhere in sight.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks," Lucy sighed. "I think we'll be here a while." Juvia nodded and the blonde left to go to the bar.

Just as she disappeared into the crowd, the water mage felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find a tall, and rather handsome, young man with silver spiky hair standing behind her.

"I apologize for disturbing you but once I caught a glimpse of your beautiful face from across the room, I had to come introduce myself," He said smoothly, holding out a hand. "My name is Lyon Vastia."

Juvia felt her cheeks heat up as she regarded the young man standing before her. She had never been called beautiful before.

"I'm Juvia Lockser," She smiled shyly, taking his hand. "You're too kind… I'm sorry, I'm not used to receiving compliments so I'm not sure what the appropriate response is."

Lyon stared at her in astonishment. "Surely you're being modest?"

"No, I'm afraid not." She smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up once again. She decided to change topics before he saw how red her face was. "Are you a student at Fiore Academy?"

He brightened immensely at the question. "I am. Are you?"

"Yes, I'm new. It's my first day of classes on Monday and I'm rather nervous." She admitted.

"Allow me to show you around then," he smiled warmly. "It's a large campus so it's easy to get lost. I can meet you 20 minutes before class starts at the Admissions office if you'd like a proper tour?"

Juvia considered his offer. She had been secretly hoping to get a tour from Gray to spend more time with him, but she knew he had something planned with Natsu before class on Monday so he wouldn't be available anyway.

"That would be nice, thank you." She smiled.

"Lyon?!" Juvia turned to see a furious Gray storming away from Natsu mid-fight and over to where they were standing.

"Yo Frosty, we ain't finished yet!" Natsu roared waving his arms wildly in the air.

Gray ignored him, walking right up to Lyon. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too Gray," Lyon regarded him coolly. "Makarov invited Lamia Scale; I came with Jura and Sherria."

"Fine," Gray grumbled. He then motioned towards the water mage. "Then what do you want with Juvia?"

"Oh so you know this beauty?" Lyon flashed a charismatic smile towards Juvia who turned several shades of pink.

"Yeah, I invited her here tonight." Gray answered through gritted teeth.

"And yet you left the poor girl all alone to go fight that pink haired baboon?" Lyon narrowed his eyes.

Juvia couldn't help but giggle at the baboon comment. That turned out to be a mistake as Gray glared at her, silencing her immediately.

She still wasn't sure why the boys were at each other's throats. That is, until she saw the icy aura coming from both of them. Lyon was an ice wizard as well. Meaning he must have been the boy who trained with Gray under the same master many years ago. Gray had mentioned a rivalry between them but she didn't think it would be this ridiculous. And why was she stuck in the middle of it?

Gray turned his glare back on Lyon. "Well I'm here now so she doesn't require your company anymore."

"What, you can't share? Is she your girlfriend Gray?" Lyon smirked.

"Of course not." Gray crossed his arms. "Don't be ridiculous."

Ouch. Juvia wasn't expecting Gray to fall in love with her overnight or anything but she certainly hadn't anticipated such a harsh response from him. She couldn't help but look down at her feet as disappointment washed over her.

"Well that's great news for me," She heard Lyon say. She looked up and met his intense gaze as he kissed her hand. She felt her face heating up all over again. "It's been a pleasure Juvia; I'll see you before class on Monday. I can't wait." He added with a wink, before turning and walking away, not bothering to say goodbye to Gray.

Gray glowered at Lyon's retreating figure before turning back to Juvia with an incredulous look. "What does he mean by 'see you before class'?"

Juvia felt her cheeks betray her again. "He's giving me a tour of the campus so that I'll have an easier time finding my classes."

"Didn't I already do that with you?"

"No, you just showed me where the admissions office was." She reminded him with a small smile. "And I'm afraid none of my classes are in that building."

"Huh." Was all Gray said as he stared at her with a weird look on his face.

Juvia sighed and looked up at the clock. It was already half past midnight and she was exhausted. Gray seemed to notice the time too. "We should probably head back now." She nodded. "C'mon I'll walk you back to your dorm first." He said in a low voice and made his way towards the door.

* * *

When they reached the dorms, Juvia turned to Gray. "Why were you so angry with Lyon?"

Gray looked up in surprise at the question, then narrowed his eyes. "Don't worry about it, it doesn't concern you."

"Oh really? Then how come the first thing out of your mouth was 'What do you want with Juvia'?" She snapped, the tone of her voice surprising him yet again. She was right though, why had he said that? He didn't like her the way Lyon did, so why did he get mad at Lyon? Hell, he had known her for a day and he was acting like some kind of crazy jealous boyfriend.

He sighed. "I dunno… he's kind of intense and I was just worried he might be making you uncomfortable."

"Oh," Juvia's gaze softened a bit. "Well thank you for your concern, but he was actually very kind to me."

When Gray didn't say anything, Juvia spoke again. "I'm going to go get some sleep, I'm sure you need it too after all the fighting tonight." She smiled. "Goodnight Gray."

"Goodnight." He watched her open the door to the girl's dorm and disappear inside. A moment later he heard someone walking up the path behind him.

"She's a sweet girl," Erza smiled, stopping beside the ice mage. "Don't be too hard on her, okay?"

Gray looked at her. "I'm not-"

Erza waved off his protest. "You know exactly what I mean Gray. I can see it in your eyes. You don't have to make everything hard for yourself. " She winked. "I'd get some sleep if I were you, I'm getting you and Natsu up extra early tomorrow to clean up the mess you made in the courtyard."

Gray groaned, he had almost forgotten about their punishment.

As he opened the door to his building, he thought about what Erza said.

 _'We're just friends,'_ He thought. _'Juvia wanted some new friends so I'm gonna be the best friend I can be. That's what Erza meant right?'_ Lyon pissed him off but he did enjoy Juvia's company so he'd try his best to be civil for her sake. After all, he didn't want to make things hard for her after all the crap she went through with the other kids during her childhood. She needed a friend, someone reliable and he'd be just that for her.

* * *

 **A/N: K so Gray's a little dense and Juvia's kinda OOC but I kinda like what I've got going on here so I'll just leave it haha. It is an AU after all. Was Lyon okay? I hope so. There will be lots more of him in the coming chapters so I work hard to write him the best I can. I promise to get the story moving next chapter. I had major writers block writing this chapter for some reason so it's not as good as I was hoping it would be but hopefully the next one will turn out better! Feel free to review :) It helps and encourages me to get chapters out on time haha**


	5. Green Eyed Monster

**Sorry for the late update, I've been super busy. I did write a little more than usual though if that helps?**

 **Also, remember how I said I was gonna leave poor Jellal alone? ... Oops :)**

* * *

The first few weeks of classes flew by for Lucy and Juvia. The two girls had begun to settle in quite well with the Fairy Tail crowd and were spending most of their evenings at the guild hall. They had gotten into a routine of meeting the other girls after classes and walking over to Fairy Tail together.  
The boys always seemed to reach the guild before they did. Today was no exception as they opened the doors to find them standing right in the entryway waiting for them. It was a little unusual for them to be standing there as they were normally found at a table near the bar chatting or off in a corner brawling.

"Hey, you're here!" Natsu came bounding up to them like an overexcited Labrador. He grabbed Lucy and Juvia by the arms and proceeded to drag them towards the bar. "Gramps and Mira have a surprise for you two!" Lucy looked behind her to see their friends' reactions but they all seemed calm and were following close behind as they made their way over to the bar.

"Welcome back girls," Mirajane greeted them with a sunny smile. "Master has a question he'd like to ask you."

The two girls turned to Makarov with nervous smiles as he cleared his throat. "Lucy Heartfilia and Juvia Lockser, how would you young ladies feel about becoming Fairy Tail wizards?"

The two girls gaped at him with wide eyes before squealing and hugging each other. "Juvia would- I mean, _I_ would love to!" Lucy couldn't help but grin at Juvia's little slip there. The water mage had confided in her roommates about her childhood habit of speaking in third person. She had grown out of it for the most part, but it still occasionally slipped into their conversations every now and then.

"I'd be honoured." Lucy's smile was so wide her cheeks were starting to hurt. Mira walked around the bar to where they were with the Fairy Tail stamp in hand.

"Where would you like it and what colour?" She turned to Lucy first with a smile.

"Oi, oi, oi," Natsu jumped in before Lucy could answer. "I wanna do it!"

Mira giggled and handed him the stamp. "Very well, Natsu. Remember to keep a steady hand."

"Yeah, yeah," He grabbed it with a grin and turned to Lucy. "Okay Luce, where do you want it?"

"Hmmm, how about the back of my right hand?"

"Alright! What colour?"

"Pink!"

His grin grew even wider. "I knew you'd pick pink."

She scoffed but smiled as he placed the stamp on her hand. There was a tingly sensation that shot through her body and then it was over with. He pulled the stamp from her hand and there sat a pink version of the Fairy Tail emblem. She couldn't help herself, she squealed again and pulled Juvia in for another hug.

"Okay, my turn, my turn," Juvia clapped her hands together with a giggle.

"Okay!" Natsu grinned, moving towards Juvia.

"Hold on Flame Brain, why do you get to do it?" Gray said suddenly, stepping in front of Juvia.

"Because I'm the one holding the stamp, Popsicle Breath," Natsu said dryly. "Now move."

"You already had your turn," Gray argued. "I'm better friends with Juvia than you are. I should be the one to do it."

Lucy couldn't help but smirk as she watched Juvia's cheeks go pink.

Gray snatched the stamp from a scowling Natsu and marched over to where Juvia was.

"Okay, where do you want it?" Gray asked.

"Remember what we talked about Juvia?" Cana came up behind Lucy. She winked at the water mage who was now blushing furiously. "You can show it off with that new skirt of yours."

Lucy realized what Cana was talking about. After the guild party a few weeks back, the girls had managed to convince Juvia to trade in her winter wardrobe for some more summery pieces. This included items that showed off her legs after they had told her Gray was a leg guy. Lucy had decided to let Juvia keep the navy skirt with the thigh high slits and Juvia was wearing it today with beige sandals and a black cropped t-shirt. Lucy knew exactly where the guild mark was going to go.

"Oh yeah…" Juvia looked at her feet as she tried to get the words out. "Umm… my…my…"

"…You don't want it on your butt or something, do you?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow.

The rest of the guild roared with laughter as Juvia's whole face burned bright red.

"N-no! No…" She sputtered. "I w-want it… on m-my… left upper th-thigh."

"Upper thigh?" Gray repeated with a blank look. Then he looked over to Juvia's upper thigh, completely exposed thanks to the high slit in the skirt, and it was his turn to go bright red. "Oh…"

"Yeah…"

"Uh… what colour?" Gray scratched the back of his neck, keeping his eyes downcast.

"Blue, please."

"O-okay…" Gray knelt down beside Juvia. He appeared to be shaking and had to grab the girls leg to steady himself. As his hand made contact with her leg, Juvia let out a little gasp and his face turned the colour of Erza's hair. "Sorry, I have cold hands…" He mumbled, raising the stamp to her thigh.

"Is anyone else enjoying this as much as I am?" Cana whispered between Mirajane and Lucy. Lucy snorted; of course Cana would be enjoying this horrendously awkward moment.

"Poor Gray," Mira giggled. "He looks like he's going to pass out at any moment."

Cana rolled her eyes, "He'd make this a whole lot easier for himself by just admitting he likes the girl."

"You think he likes her?" Lucy asked. She knew Juvia liked him, but she had never really thought about Gray's feelings towards the water mage.

Cana gave a groan of annoyance. "You're joking, right Lucy? Look at his face!" She motioned in the direction of his very red face. He now had the stamp pressed against Juvia's leg. "You think Natsu would've cared if he had to put the stamp there?"

Cana had a point. The room erupted in applause as Gray stood up and Juvia showed off her guild mark to the crowd.

"Aw, we already have a new Fairy Tail couple!" Mira clasped her hands together in glee.

Cana snorted, "Yeah, don't hold your breath. Ice boy is in major denial right now."

Mira deflated a little. "Well that's annoying."

Cana put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Oh don't you worry my little match making demon; I've already enacted a plan that you're sure to love."

"Does it by chance involve Lyon?" Lucy asked dryly.

"It sure does," Cana winked, nudging the blonde with her elbow. "I've been encouraging Juvia to hang out with him more and more. I just love watching him bring out the green eyed monster in Gray."

"You're horrible," Lucy couldn't help but smirk. "And I thought you didn't do match making?"

"I can't help myself," Cana shrugged. "It's just way too much fun messing with Gray."

"Well I'm glad someone is helping those two," Mira smiled, looking over to where Gray stood a few feet away from Juvia, watching her talk to Lisanna, Erza and Levy. The way he was looking at her made Lucy realize that maybe Cana was right about his feelings after all. But then, when Juvia caught his eye and smiled at him, he frowned, looked away immediately and walked over to where Natsu and Gajeel were standing.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "They'll need all the help they can get." 

* * *

Natsu reluctantly entered his apartment later that evening, hoping none of his roommates were home. For once, he wasn't the one driving everyone crazy. In fact, he was probably the only sane one left.

"Checking to make sure they're not here?" Happy chuckled from behind him.

"Yep, that's _exactly_ what I'm doing buddy." Natsu peeked around the corner.

Out of the four roommates, Gajeel was probably the least troublesome. He wasn't doing anything wrong per se. He would just come home really happy most nights and it was kind of weird. They had grown used to grumpy, hate-all-forms-of-life Gajeel and now they were living with a Gajeel who sang in the shower and would practically skip out the door in the morning. If Natsu had to pick a word to describe this new Gajeel, it would be 'creepy'.

Gray had been acting normally, until about a week and a half ago when he had walked into the kitchen after class and Gajeel had asked him if he knew about Lyon hanging around Juvia between classes and trying to recruit her to Lamia Scale. It turns out Gray didn't, and he didn't take the news very well either. He had let out some kind of growling noise and punched a hole in the kitchen wall. After that, most nights he would come home in a huff complaining about something Lyon did. He still refused to admit he was jealous, despite the evidence of his jealous rage on their kitchen wall.

Happy flew down the narrow hallway towards Jellal's room and called, "All clear down here!"

Natsu let out a sigh of relief. Jellal was the worst by far. He had been in a constant state of gloom since the guild party, refusing to go with the boys to Fairy Tail and skipping dinners. He was normally the calm and collected one of the bunch but he now spent most of his time either moping around or lashing out at the mention of Erza.  
After a week or so of erratic behaviour, he had finally filled them in on what had happened between him and Erza at the party. They had tried helping him, on several occasions, to score a conversation with Erza but she refused to see him. And if any of them tried bringing Jellal up in conversation with her, they would find themselves at the receiving end of Erza's sword. It was obvious Jellal felt the same way towards her but for some reason she refused to hear him out. To make matters worse, the girls seemed to be supporting her ridiculous behaviour.

Natsu was sick and tired of all the girl drama. He wanted his friends back to normal.

"What are you thinking about Natsu?" Happy asked.

Just then, Natsu got an idea. "C'mon Happy, let's go find Lucy!"

"But why? We just got here." The exceed moaned, flying after his friend.

"I just thought of a plan to get Erza and Jellal talking again and I'm gonna need your guys' help!" The dragon slayer cackled throwing open the door to the apartment.

"Aye sir!" 

* * *

Juvia stood outside the library after school the next day deep in thought.

Cana had told her that hanging out with Lyon more would help her get closer to Gray but she couldn't see how it was going to work. Cana thought Gray was jealous of Juvia's friendship with Lyon, but he hadn't shown any signs of it since the guild party a few weeks back. In fact, since then he had been going on about being a 'good friend' and encouraging Juvia to 'explore her friendship' with Lyon. It was completely bizarre.  
To make matters worse, she wasn't even getting to spend as much time with Gray as she would have liked. And when she would finally get some time alone with the guy he would start acting weird.

 _'Maybe I'm just wasting my time with this crush…'_ She thought sadly, clutching her book bag. Almost a month had passed and Gray seemed even less interested than before. Clearly a relationship between them just wasn't meant to be and she was wasting her time.

 _'Perhaps it might be in my best interest to start taking Lyon's feelings more seriously…'_ She hung her head. Giving up was not something she liked to do, but she was tired… _very_ tired, of chasing someone who clearly did not want to be chased.

"Yo, Juvia!"

The blunette's head snapped up at the familiar voice and her heart began to race. This reaction to his voice alone, told her that getting over her crush on Gray wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped.

"Hello Gray," She smiled as he walked over with his hands in his pockets. "What are you up to?"

He chuckled, "I was going to ask you that actually. Do you want to grab a bite to eat?"

Juvia felt her cheeks heat up, even though she knew there was no reason to blush. She'd been out to eat with Gray on several occasions, always as friends, nothing more. His request today was no different.

"I'm afraid I can't," She watched him frown as she spoke. "Lyon is taking me to a new bistro that opened up in town."

"Is he now?" Gray's voice was tight as he spoke and something flashed in his eyes. Juvia was unable to see what it was though, as it was gone in an instant.

"Yes…" She looked at him, a little confused by his reaction. "You encouraged us to be friends right?"

He seemed to relax a little, "That's right; I did say that didn't I? Well it's not like it's a date or anything right?" He chuckled, like the idea of a date with Lyon was some kind of hilarious joke.

Juvia had never really thought of her meals with Lyon as dates. He had paid for a few but neither of them had ever used the words 'date' or 'friendly' when they made plans to hang out so she wasn't even sure what was really going on between them. She certainly didn't feel anything romantic for Lyon but she wasn't sure he felt the same way.

"Well… I think it's not… I'm not sure…" Juvia tilted her head up, thinking. It was really just Cana's bizarre plan.

"Are you serious? You can't date Lyon Juvia," He grimaced. "He's no good for you."

Juvia was baffled.

"How so?" She asked with a scowl, and then scoffed at his incredulous look. "No, really. What is it that's so horrible about Lyon? Is he evil?"

"W-what?" Besides the night of the guild party when Juvia had snapped at Gray, she never got mad or told him off when he was being a jerk, so he was clearly surprised that she was standing up to him for the second time now.

"You heard my question… is he?" She frowned.

"Well… no…"

"Does he not treat women well?"

"No, he's fine…"

"Is he cruel to children or animals?"

That question earned her a bizarre look from Gray. "What? No, of course not…"

"Then why is he no good for me?"

"Because…" Gray scratched the back of his neck – which she was beginning to notice was a nervous habit of his – his cheeks turning a rosy pink. "It's you."

When he saw her confused expression he continued, "I dunno… I guess I just don't think anyone is good enough for you…" He blushed again when he met her startled gaze.

"Oh…" She looked down at her feet, unsure of how to respond. Gray could be so cold to her, but then he'd turn around and say something unbelievably sweet like this. It was so confusing.

"Do you… want to date him?" He asked softly.

"I-I don't think-"

"Juvia, my darling!" She heard Gray swear loudly at the interruption as she turned to see Lyon walking over to where they stood.

"Well hello Gray," He smirked upon noticing the ice mage standing there. "What business do you have with my girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" Gray questioned incredulously, turning to Juvia for an answer.

Before she could respond though, Lyon cut in again.

"Well of course," He grinned, putting an arm around a shell shocked Juvia. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a reservation we can't be late for." And before either of them could respond, Lyon swept her away down the path towards the school gates. 

* * *

Jellal was more than pleased to come home to an empty apartment after the awful day he'd had.

Erza had, as usual, avoided him the whole day. Then, as his final class of the day came to an end, he had been unable to leave the classroom when a random guy from their class had asked Erza out right in the doorway.  
It had been absolute hell; trapped there, and forced to watch her say yes. Then she had walked away with the guy, not even sparing a glance in Jellal's direction.

Nearly a month ago he had found out Erza Scarlet was in love with him. Now, he wasn't so sure.

The apartment door flew open with a bang, startling him from his thoughts. A livid Gray came storming in and punched the first thing he saw, which happened to be one of the walls in the entryway.

"If you're gonna punch a hole in the wall every time Lyon so much as glances at Juvia, we won't have any walls left by the end of this semester." Jellal said dryly, startling the ice mage. He clearly hadn't counted on any of his roommates being home yet.

"I'd say I have a damn good reason." He snarled, making his way over to where Jellal stood.

"Oh?"

"They're boyfriend and girlfriend now apparently." Gray practically spat the words 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'.

" _Oh._ " So there was someone else out there sharing in his misery after all. Oddly enough, it didn't make him feel any better.

Then what Gray said finally hit him. "Wait, _Juvia_ is dating Lyon? _Juvia Lockser_?"

"Who the hell else do we know with the name Juvia?" Gray rolled his eyes.

Something wasn't right. Anyone with eyes and ears knew how much Juvia liked Gray. Well… except for Gray himself. There was no way she'd ever agree to be Lyon's girlfriend.

"Are you sure?" Jellal questioned. "It just seems so… improbable."

"Well he called her his girlfriend and she didn't deny it. Then he threw an arm around her, told me they had a dinner reservation and they walked off together." Gray frowned. "Seems pretty damn probable to me."

"…So is this your way of finally admitting you're jealous?"

"What?" Gray growled, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not jealous, I'm just looking out for a friend. And no friend of mine should be dating that asshat Lyon Vastia."

"Mhmm," Jellal rolled his eyes. "Tell that to the two gaping holes in the walls of our apartment."

Gray sighed. "Look, I don't want her in that way. I just… I just _hate_ her with Lyon. I don't even know why I feel that way, but I do."

Jellal decided to try something. "What if it was a different guy?"

"A different guy?" Gray reiterated, looking puzzled.

"Well I mean, you don't want Juvia and Erza doesn't want me… so I may as well give it a shot, right?"

There was a tense silence before Gray finally responded, "Well, sure... I mean, I don't see why not." His voice was clearly feigning nonchalance but Jellal had seen his body tense up and his hands ball into fists and that was all the answer he needed.

"I don't think I'll be asking Juvia out anyway," Jellal couldn't help but smirk as he noticed Gray visibly relax. "I've got enough on my plate with Erza at the moment."

Gray chuckled, "You sure do. I saw her walking with some blonde guy on my way over here. Is something going on there?"

Jellal grimaced as he replayed what happened after class in his head again. "He asked her out after class."

"And she said yes?!" Gray looked completely dumbfounded. "Oh c'mon Erza…" He whispered the last part to himself, but Jellal heard it.

"She's moved on, that's all." Jellal smiled sadly.

Gray scoffed, "Yeah, right. You've gotta do something man. You can't keep moping around here."

"You think I haven't tried?" Jellal ground his teeth in frustration. Gray Fullbuster was not in any position to tell _him_ to make a move. But he also knew the ice mage just wanted his friends to be happy. "Although," Jellal remembered a conversation he had had with a certain fire dragon slayer that morning before class. "Natsu told me he's concocted a plan with Lucy to get Erza to talk to me."

Gray looked horrified, "You've gotta be kidding me. You're letting Flame Brain meddle in your love life?" He covered his face with his hands and groaned. "You must be pretty damn desperate."

Jellal simply shrugged, "I am." 

* * *

"Okay Lily, hit me with everything you've got!"

Levy frowned as Panther Lily transformed and readied his sword. She knew he was a skilled fighter, but there was still something unsettling about watching the exceed take on Gajeel.  
Still, she knew better than to argue with the dragon slayer when it came to training methods just as he knew better than to question her knowledge of magical writing and spells.

The two continued fighting until Lily took an iron fist to the stomach, getting knocked flat on his back.

"Gajeel!" Levy scolded, anxiously eyeing the exceed.

"Relax shorty, he's fine." He grinned as Lily got back on his feet grunting in agreement.

Levy sighed and returned to the book she was holding. But she found it hard to concentrate with her two friends crossing swords a few feet away.

Her mind wandered over everything that had happened in the past few weeks. After an awkward and unpleasant summer vacation, things were finally working out for her and Gajeel. It helped having a great first date.

They had gone to an ice cream parlour that had just opened up in the heart of Magnolia and they had sat outside and talked for hours about anything and everything. He had opened up about his past mistakes and his fears for the future and she had listened and offered support where she could. After that, they had been seeing each other nearly every day for the past few weeks, growing closer and closer.

It was like a dream come true.

Well… almost.

The dragon slayer had yet to lay a single finger on her. There was zero physical contact happening in their relationship. And while she could understand why it might've been that way for the first couple of weeks, she was now getting frustrated. She had an idea of why he might be holding back. After all, he was still a little insecure in their relationship. But she had dropped about a million not-so-subtle hints, so at this point it was obvious he wasn't going to be the one to make the first move.

Levy sighed; if Gajeel didn't step up his game soon, she knew that years from now she'd be the one eventually getting down on one knee and popping the question.

She buried her nose back into her book, vowing to come up with a plan to change that. 

* * *

**So I was kinda rushing to get this out on time so I feel like it could've been better but I hope you like it anyway.**

 **Many thanks to those of you who continue to review :) (Kimchimustard - I tried to fix the bold font problem on the last chapter, it's not appearing as bold for me so lemme know if it's still there? :) )  
**  
 **Next chapter is going to focus on Natsu's plan... so lots of NaLu and Jerza ;) Will Levy put her plan into action next chapter as well? Keep reading to find out :D**


	6. Man with a Plan

**Back again, a little earlier than usual to make up for last weeks late post :)**

 **There was a request for Gruvia so I added in a scene that may or may not appease those Gruvia fans out there ;)**

* * *

After a week of preparation, Natsu was finally ready to put his plan, 'Operation Tame the Beast', into action.

"Are you sure about this Natsu?" Lucy asked for what felt like the hundredth time that day, trudging down the path alongside the pumped up dragon slayer. "This plan could piss off a very scary red haired individual and I value my life."

"It'll be fine," He waved off her concern. "It's just Erza."

"If it's 'just Erza'," She used finger quotations as she mimicked him. "Then why the hell is our plan called 'Operation _Tame the Beast'_?"

Natsu shrugged. "Because Erza's being a real beast to poor Jellal and we're gonna stop her."

"She's hurting too y'know Natsu…"

"Yeah, well, I think we can both agree that hurting or not, she's not handling this whole situation very well." He grumbled, picking up speed as they reached the courtyard between the girls and boys dorms.

"Sensitive as always," Lucy mumbled under her breath.

Natsu caught what she said and clearly wasn't impressed, as he turned and scowled at the celestial mage.

"That's not fair-" He started, but his features softened when he noticed the look on Lucy's face. He hadn't meant to startle her like that. He took a deep breath and continued, "Look, normally I'd kill whoever made Erza cry. She's like a sister to me, Lucy."  
He scratched his head sheepishly as he continued. "But she's being stubborn and it's not just hurting her anymore, it's hurting Jellal as well. And he's actually a really good guy." He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I really think they're made for each other, and I can't just let them throw that away over some stupid misunderstanding."

Lucy couldn't help but smile as Natsu looked up with pink tinted cheeks. He was always surprising her and today was no exception. This whole time she'd just assumed he wanted to fix the issue because it was annoying living with a mopey Jellal, but it turned out to be much deeper than that. Natsu really did care about his friends and their happiness.

"Now, you go grab Erza and I'll get Jellal." He gently shoved Lucy in the direction of her dorm. "Wait about 10 minutes before you take her over to the guild so I can make sure everything is ready."

The blonde nodded and began walking up the path to the door, silently praying that Natsu's plan would work. It actually seemed like a well thought out plan, so Lucy had faith. Plus, there were few out there who had crossed Erza Scarlet and lived to tell the tale and Lucy just happened to be partnered up with one of them. 

* * *

"Why do I have to be here?" Laxus grumbled, taking a seat at the bar beside Cana. "I get Freed being here because he's helping set this ridiculous trap…" He shot a withering look at the green haired mage, who was standing off to the side with an irritable expression. "But what am I supposed to do?"

Cana rolled her eyes, as she handed Mira her mug for a refill. "If the plan fails and Erza goes ballistic you'll have plenty to do."

"Do you really think the plan will fail?" Mira asked, suddenly apprehensive, as she refilled Cana's drink.

Freed scoffed, "It most certainly will not. No one escapes my enchantments so easily, not even the great Titania."

Cana shrugged, ignoring Freed's remark. "It depends on how pissed off Erza gets."

"Speak of the devil…" Laxus muttered as Erza and Lucy walked into the guild hall.

Natsu suddenly walked out of one of the guilds main corridors off to the right and winked at Lucy before making his way over to the bar.

Erza walked ahead of Lucy, prepared to greet her friends when the celestial mage suddenly grabbed her by the sleeve.

"Say Erza, there was actually a reason I dragged you here," She chuckled nervously, scratching her head. "I actually saw this sword over in the storage closet yesterday and I want you to take a look at it, it kind of looks like that rare one with the ruby from that book you were showing me and Levy the other day."

There was a pause and they were sure the plan was already over before it had even begun until Erza's eyes lit up. "I would love to take a look. Let us go at once!" And she marched off the same way Natsu came, with a bemused Lucy jogging to catch up. 

* * *

Lyon spotted the blue haired water mage standing in their usual meeting spot, in front of the library. Despite the cooler autumn weather, she wore a short white floral sundress and a blue cardigan. The cardigan matched her eyes perfectly, while the dress made her soft blue hair stand out vividly in the afternoon sun. He couldn't help but think about how idiotic Gray was acting. The girl was kind, incredibly smart and beautiful to boot, and only had eyes for him. Lyon could think of plenty of guys, including himself, who'd kill to be in Gray's shoes. All he had to do was say the word and Juvia would be his. Yet for some unfathomable reason, he continued to lie to himself and keep her at a distance.

As the ice mage approached, he saw her look up nervously.

"Hello Juvia," He greeted her with a warm smile. "Sorry I'm late. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"L-Lyon," She looked down at her feet as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. "Juvia is-I am sorry…"

He knew exactly where this conversation was headed. Still, he kept his mouth shut.

"J-Juvia can't be your g-girlfriend," She stuttered, raising her head. He felt his heart constrict at the sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I have feelings for someone else. It wouldn't be right…" She looked at him as though she were searching his face for answers; then lowered her head again. "I'm sorry," She repeated.

He stepped closer to her and lifted her chin with his finger. "Juvia," He said softly, and smiled tenderly at her when her eyes met his. "You don't have to be sorry. I understand completely."

Her expression changed from misery to disbelief. "You… you do?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at the bewildered look on her face, "I do, and I think I know who the object of your affections is as well."

She nodded, "Gray…"

He sighed. That raven haired idiot was the luckiest bastard in Fiore. How could he not see that?

"Why don't you tell him Juvia?" He asked, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "Maybe he feels the same way?"

She shook her head, keeping her eyes downcast. "He doesn't."

"How can you be sure?"

She looked up at him with such a sorrowful expression, it took all his resistance not to march off to Gray's dorm and beat him to a pulp. "He just doesn't, I can tell. Every time I start think we're growing closer, he'll push me away. I just feel like a nuisance to him at this point." Her voice wobbled a bit in the last sentence.

"You're not a nuisance Juvia. I'm sure Gray doesn't think of you like that." He tried his best to keep the edge out of his voice. The urge to beat up Gray was growing stronger and stronger by the minute. "You could never be a nuisance; you're far too lovely to have around." He added a wink at the end which, to his delight, made her giggle.

"You're too kind Lyon," She smiled, and then added hesitantly, "I really hope we can stay friends?"

"Of course we can Juvia," He pulled her in for a hug, which she reciprocated. "I'll always be your friend." And he meant it. After all, he'd known about her feelings for Gray for a while now. He had accepted long ago that a friend was all he'd ever be to her.

"I'm so glad," Her smile seemed much more sincere now as they broke apart. "Thank you, Lyon."

"Anything for you, Juvia," He smiled.

"I'd better go… I'm going shopping with Bisca and Lisanna," She said brightly. "See you around!"

Lyon smiled and waved until she turned the corner and was out of earshot. Then he turned to the bush nearest to him with an irritable look. "I know you like the girl Gray, but stalking her seems a little over the top, don't you think?"

The bush rustled and the ice mage in question slowly surfaced with a sheepish expression.

"Did you know I was here the whole time?"

"No," Lyon rolled his eyes. "I only sensed your presence after she asked me if we could stay friends."

"Why were you spying anyway?" Lyon added, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"I didn't mean to," Gray sputtered. "I was about to go up and talk to her but then I saw you in the distance and I panicked."

"So you leapt into the bush and eavesdropped on our private conversation instead," Lyon said flatly. Then he groaned and rubbed his temple. "So?"

"So what?"

"Don't play dumb with me Gray, you heard what she said." He said irritably. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Gray looked fretful, "Wait, why do I have to do something about it?"

"Gray I'm going to kill you, I swear," Lyon grimaced, clenching his fists.

"What's the point in doing anything Lyon? She can do better than me anyway."

"Well that's certainly something we can both agree on…" Lyon muttered ironically, earning a scowl from Gray.

"Well you have to do something Gray, before she moves on and you lose her for good."

"Wait a minute," Gray's scowl was replaced with a puzzled look. "Why are you encouraging me? Just a week ago, you declared her your girlfriend and the two of you strode off to your dinner reservation." He narrowed his eyes at the silver haired mage. "Actually, now that I think about it, you didn't seem all that bothered when she rejected you and asked to be friends."

Lyon sighed. Why Juvia fell for this idiot was incomprehensible.

"I did it to light a fire under your sorry ass," He groaned, ignoring Gray's bewildered expression. "You think I would really force the poor girl to date me like that? Believe it or not, I'm not that desperate." He was certain Gray would throw in some snarky remark, but he seemed to be processing everything still.

"Gray," He started again, struggling to keep his patience. "You don't have to date her right off the bat. You've only known her for a month after all, and we all know you move at a snail's pace when it comes to this stuff." He grinned at the look Gray shot him. "Just work on your friendship with her. Open up more, and let her open up to you. That doesn't sound so scary does it?"

"No, I guess not…" Gray muttered.

"And maybe once you've worked on that a bit, you'll finally admit you like the girl."

Gray opened his mouth to protest and was interrupted immediately, "Don't even bother trying to deny it," Lyon smirked. " _Everyone_ knows Gray. It's no secret anymore. Not after you punched those two holes in the wall of your apartment."

He scowled, "That damn fire monkey can't keep his mouth shut, can he?"

"The ball is in your court now Gray," Lyon turned to leave. "Don't screw it up." 

* * *

Erza opened the door to the storage closet and peeked inside.

"Wow they've really cleaned this place up since the last time I-" She felt two hands give her a sharp shove and she landed on her hands and knees inside the dark room.

Before she could even turn around, the light above her turned on and she heard Lucy squeak a "Sorry Erza" before slamming the door behind her.

"Lucy?!" Erza shouted. "What is the meaning of this?"

As she got up and walked towards the door, the room suddenly lit up with a magical barrier she knew far too well. Freed was in on this as well.

"What's going on?" She couldn't understand why her guild mates would feel the need to trap her in the storage closet.

Until she realized who was in the room with her.

"Erza…" She felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of his voice. She turned to see Jellal standing there, looking much calmer than she felt.

"Erza," He repeated. "We need to talk."

"So you're in on this too?" She felt her voice rising hysterically, unable to stop it. Her feelings were rising to the surface at the mere sight of him, smothering her. "Why can't you just leave this alone?"

"Because you need to hear what I have to say," He looked sad, but she couldn't even register his expression. Not with all the memories and emotions flowing through her like a roaring river.

"No… stop, I can't," She turned to the door and found herself blocked once again. The rules of Freed's rune enchantment appeared before her and she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

 _The wizards trapped in this enchantment may leave once they've shared a kiss_

"Jellal…" She growled, facing him. He took a step back when he caught the venomous look in her eyes.

"Erza I-"

"Kiss me."

"What?" He took another step back, nearly tripping on a bucket behind him.

"If that's what you want… well then fine, just do it." She crossed her arms.

"That's not what I want," Jellal groaned, rubbing his face. "I just want to talk to you. I had no idea there was a kiss involved."

"I demand that you kiss me."

"No!" He almost shouted, and blanched when he noticed her shrink back a bit.

"Look, Erza I'm sorry," He continued, turning over the bucket behind him and taking a seat on it. "All those years ago, I didn't realize you liked me. I thought… I thought there was someone else."

The scowl she'd had on her face since she'd been shoved into the closet loosened a bit at this information. "What do you mean someone else?"

"Well, you were so happy in your guild and you were always hanging around him," He spoke nervously, stumbling over his words. "I mean, I know now that's not how it is but back then I guess I misunderstood…"

"Hanging around who?" She was utterly confused.

"Gray…" He mumbled.

"Gray Fullbuster?!" She nearly shrieked. "You can't be serious."

"It's not that hard to believe is it?" He raised an eyebrow. "He's a talented wizard and he's not a bad looking guy either. He actually gets a lot of attention from girls while we're out and about."

"I'm sure the stripping habit has something to do with that," Erza muttered. "I'm certainly not interested in him though. He's always been like a brother to me."

"I know," Jellal said. "I've already spoken about it with him. He certainly thought it was funny."

"Well it is pretty ridiculous," Erza couldn't help but giggle. Not only was the thought of dating Gray hilarious, but Jellal had actually considered Gray some sort of romantic rival. Did this mean Jellal was jealous?

His head shot up in surprise at the sound of her giggle. He then stood up and made his way across the room towards her.

Her giggles subsided as she became very aware of how close he was to her.

"Erza, I have to say this," Their foreheads were almost touching at this point. "Please."

She paused a moment, then nodded.

"I love you."

"Jellal, you don't have to say it just bec-"

"No," He interrupted her, resting his forehead against hers. "I mean it Erza. I love you… I always have."

"But that night at the guild," She whispered. "You seemed so uncomfortable."

"I was ashamed of myself," He lifted his head and smiled down at her. "I was thinking about how I'd hurt you. My brain hadn't even processed the confession at that point."

She breathed out and buried her head in his chest. "I know I should've let you say something but I was scared."

"How is it possible that _I_ of all people scare the great Erza Scarlet?" He chuckled, as he tenderly stroked her hair. "I can assure you, you have nothing to fear from me." He smiled as she pulled away and their eyes met.

"I love you Jellal," She smiled wide as she took in the affectionate look in his eyes. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"I love you too Erza and I promise I won't ever give you a reason to doubt me again."

Deciding he wasn't going to waste any more time, after all the time they had lost already, he lifted her chin and pressed his lips softly to hers. She felt her body flood with warmth as she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She had been silly, letting her fears get the best of her. She could've been this close to Jellal all along.

But perhaps it was better this way. Maybe that's why she had joined Fairy Tail. Or why Jellal came back into her life again as a permanent fixture. Fate had a way of bringing people together when they needed each other most. 

* * *

Mirajane sidled up to Laxus as he sat at the bar sipping his beer. "So you remember that favour you owe me? You know, from the mission we did a few months back?"

He shot her a wary glance before taking another sip, "You've finally decided to cash that in eh? This can't be good…"

"Well, since Natsu's plan was such a success," She gestured over to where Jellal and Erza were sitting, chatting happily with their guild mates. "I'm feeling inspired."

He rolled his eyes, "Nothing good comes from you being 'inspired'".

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice Laxus," She smiled sweetly, but he caught the sharp undertone in her threat.

"Can't I just beat someone up for you?" He groaned. "That's the kind of stuff I'm good at. Not this… romantic crap." He gestured towards the happy couple.

"You know I could do that myself if I really wanted to," Laxus shuddered. Somehow her threats were a lot scarier when she voiced them with that big, creepy smile.

He mumbled his defeat. "So who's the unlucky couple?"

"Meet me here tomorrow at noon and you'll find out." She winked, and sauntered off to the kitchen.

Laxus swore under his breath. He should've known better than to make a deal with the devil. 

* * *

**Sooo Jellal and Erza finally sorted things out, Lucy gets to know a side of Natsu she hasn't seen yet and Gray now knows how Juvia feels.  
** **I couldn't cook up anything good for GaLe this chapter so I decided to push it back a little and bring Miraxus out of the shadows.  
I may bring another couple in next chapter as well but you'll have to see ;)**

 **Oh and don't worry, that's definitely not the last you'll see of Lyon. I love the guy, he's not going anywhere.**

 **Please review and such because it really does inspire me to write faster and better :) Thank you so much to all of you that have so far!  
**


	7. Worth the Wait?

**A/N: Sorry for the very late chapter, I had a research paper due last week for school and on top of that I had MAJOR writers block. It didn't help that I decided to scrap my plans for this chapter and the next few and had to come up with a whole new plan.**

 **Anyway, to make up for it, I wrote the longest chapter I've ever written in my life lol. 7000+ words... I feel like I lost a year of my life writing this thing. I figured if I was gonna post this late, I may as well give you something worth waiting for. Hopefully you feel that way at least.**

 **I've decided to make this story 20-25 chapters long, depending on the pacing I choose. I'm still sticking with it, so don't worry if I ever am late posting, I haven't deserted my story, I just get busy. I work part-time and go to school full-time so it can be tricky to keep up with my writing.**

 **I'm changing my update day to Sunday instead of Wednesday. If I do have any free time, it's always on Thursday mornings, Fridays and Sundays. So I figured Sunday is my best bet if I want to get each chapter up on time.**

 **Also, this took so damn long to write I didn't do a very thorough job of proof reading so send me a PM if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes that catch your eye!**

 **Anyway, I'll shut up now, thanks for reading and leave a review pleeeease because I love them :)**

* * *

It was an remarkably warm fall afternoon when the young mages stepped outside for their last class of the day; physical training. Usually the boys and girls trained together during class time, but today the boys were doings laps around the track while the girls were stationed at the pool.

Gray couldn't help but grin when he thought of a certain water mage, who would certainly show up the rest of her classmates in that particular area.

When he'd first met Juvia, he had grossly underestimated her magic power level. It almost made sense at the time to assume she wouldn't be all that powerful; Juvia was so shy and gentle, no one really expected much from a girl like that.

Except for Gajeel, that is.

It turns out, she and Gajeel had been part of the same guild at one point. That guild, now disbanded, had been called Phantom Lord. It was kind of a shady guild, so Gray understood why Juvia had wanted to hide that little tidbit of information from her new friends. What had surprised everyone the most though was that she had been an S class wizard in that guild.

That information had only been revealed a few weeks ago, after Gray had had his ass handed to him in training by none other than Juvia. He had been so confident he would beat her. How wrong he had been.

In the end she had boiled away his ice and he wound up falling flat on his butt. Immediately after, Juvia had run up to him and fussed over him while Natsu and Gajeel roared with laughter from the sidelines. Gildarts, who was their guest instructor for the week, had given him a lecture on underestimating your opponent, while stifling laughter of his own. To say the whole ordeal was humiliating was an understatement. He was still pissed at Gajeel for not warning him about Juvia.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of groans all around him.

Their guest instructor for this week was unfortunately Laxus, and his idea of fun was running laps.

"Oh c'mon Laxus," Natsu was whining as they approached the track. "I wanna fight. Let's fight instead!"

"Shut it, Salamander," He shoved the pink haired boy forward. "Your schedule says laps so you run laps. The girls are basically doing the same thing, just in the pool instead."

"How many laps are we running?" Hibiki inched forward with the other Blue Pegasus boys in tow.

Laxus smirked, "I wanna see you run until you pass out."

The rest of the boys shivered at the same time Natsu stepped forward with shining eyes, whispering, "A challenge? Awesome."

"It's anything but awesome you fire freak," Gray groaned, crossing his arms.

"Oi Fullbuster," Laxus flung a white t-shirt at his face. Gray looked down and realized it belonged to him. He had apparently taken it off at some point. "Put your shirt back on before I throw you in the pool with the girls."

He heard snickering behind him and Juvia's name being whispered. Clearly his classmates weren't finished reminding him of his defeat yet.

"Now get moving," Laxus yelled, herding the boys onto the track. "I better not see any of you princesses falling before you've run _at least_ seven laps!"

As Gray began jogging, Natsu caught up to him. "Let's race Gray!"

"Not in the mood Flame Brain," The ice mage rolled his eyes, keeping a steady pace. Laxus would zap the both of them if he caught them messing around.

"Thinking about Juvia?" He didn't need to look at Natsu to know he was smirking.

"I'm not that pig headed Natsu," Gray scowled. "I can handle losing to a girl. There are plenty of crazy strong female mages out there. I just didn't expect Juvia to be one of them."

"Not what I meant Frosty," Natsu snickered. "When are you finally gonna tell the girl you like her?"

Gray groaned, "Not you too…"

"You didn't answer the question," Natsu taunted in a sing song voice.

"What is it with you people?" He shook his head. "I don't like Juvia in that way."

"Tell that to the holes in our kitchen wall," Gajeel jogged up beside them.

"No kidding," Natsu cackled. "You gotta get yourself a punching bag Droopy Eyes. Our apartment's starting to get a little drafty."

"Oh shut up," Gray attempted to jog ahead of them but they caught up easily. "Those punches were because of Lyon, not Juvia."

"No, they were because of Lyon flirting with Juvia," Gajeel rolled his eyes and smirked. "Face it Fullbuster, you want her."

"No I-" Gray began to protest but cut himself off. Did he really want Juvia? He had no idea what his feelings were for the water mage. All he really knew was that he cared about her but he wasn't sure if he cared in a romantic way or not. He hadn't made much of an effort to look at her in a romantic light.

"You know she likes you Gray," Natsu was puffing a little now as he spoke. "Hell, we all know it. She won't turn you down."

"You're screwing with her feelings Stripper, and I don't like it," Gajeel shot him a deadly look.

Gray rolled his eyes. Since when did Gajeel play the part of the overprotective big brother?

"Look, I don't want to screw with her feelings." They were on their third lap now and his words were coming out in pants. "I really don't know how I feel about all of this… but I'm not giving her any sort of answer until I'm a hundred percent sure of whatever I feel. Okay?"

The two boys looked at each other and then at Gray. "Fine," They grunted in unison, dropping the topic.

But Gray knew it wouldn't be long before they were back at it again. Oddly enough, the only person who wasn't giving him shit about Juvia lately was Juvia herself. In fact, she had seemed rather distant this past week. It was quite a change from the Juvia he knew who clung to him at the start of the school year. But Gray had an idea of why she was being so distant; after all, he had seen how miserable she was when she spoke to Lyon about her feelings.

Gray felt awful that he was the reason she was so sad. He had never meant for things to get like this.

He treasured Juvia too much as a friend to let her go entirely so he had to be very careful with whatever decision he made. Gray had been the one to bring back her sun; he'd never forgive himself if he was the one to take it away again.

* * *

Mira decided to move their meeting from noon to after school due to a busy lunch hour at the guild; much to Laxus's delight. He was in a much better mood after spending last period torturing Natsu and his classmates.

In fact, he was in such high spirits he couldn't help but roar with laughter when Mira told him who their next targets were.

"What's so funny Laxus?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh Mira," Laxus chuckled. "You really are out of your mind if you think you're gonna get Salamander of all people a girlfriend."

"He likes Lucy!" She pouted. "I can tell…"

"There's no way that dense fire breather sees her as anything more than a friend," Laxus smirked. "I've never seen him take an interest in anyone, male or female, before. Hell, I'm not even sure if he's fully hit puberty yet." He chuckled again at the petulant look on Mira's face.

She stood up abruptly, with a determined look in her eye, "Well then, we'll just have to make that our task."

Laxus stopped chuckling immediately, realizing what he'd done. "Oi, hold on a sec. Can't they just figure it out on their own?"

"Nope," Mira wagged her finger at him with a smile. "Like you said, Natsu's a little dense. So we're gonna give him the help he needs to overcome it!"

Laxus groaned. He fell right into her trap… again.

* * *

Gajeel winced with every step he took towards the library, cursing Laxus and his workout regime. The only thing that kept him moving forward was the blue haired script mage waiting for him inside.

Sure enough, he found her in the back of the library reading on one of the many window seats. While he wasn't much of a reader, Gajeel had to admit he enjoyed the quiet, peaceful atmosphere of the library. He especially liked the window seats, as they were always where he could find the petite blunette. Most afternoons after school, he would join her and listen as she read quietly to him. If he was being honest, it was probably the best part of his day.

Today was different however. When she saw him walking over, she closed her book and set it down beside her.

"What's up Shrimp?" He asked as he sat down across from her.

"Gajeel…" She smiled shyly. "I have a question."

"Okay, shoot."

"What… what are we?"

The shock in his expression must have been noticeable as she began waving her arms frantically, "Ah- I mean- it's just that…" She took a deep breath before starting again. "It's just that we've been hanging out all this time and we've never really talked about it. I mean, we like each other… right?" She peeked up at him and smiled when he nodded. "So… what are we then?"

Gajeel sat there struggling to process everything the blue haired girl had just said. It was true; they had been spending a lot of time together. Did he like her? Of course. Did she like him? For some bizarre reason, yes she did. They had been on a date as well. So were they dating? He had no idea what to call it.

"We're… best friends?" He cursed inwardly as he watched her expectant smile drop into a grimace. Nope, that was the wrong answer. He racked his brain for the answer until he noticed Levy getting up to leave out of the corner of his eye.

"Levy, wait," He grabbed her arm, dragging her back down. "Are we…dating?"

"I don't know Gajeel, are we?" She fixed him with a frosty stare.

He groaned; this day just kept getting worse and worse. What a way to end it, with Laxus's training session from hell and now an interrogation from his maybe-girlfriend.

"C'mon Shrimp," He put his hands over his face. "You know I'm no good at this stuff."

"Well you still have to try," She said resolutely, pulling his hands away from his face. "Tell me Gajeel… what do you want?"

There it was again; that expectant look. Except now he was utterly terrified he would say the wrong thing again and wipe it from her face.

"Be honest," She said. He looked down and noticed she was still holding onto his hands. Her grip had tightened a bit.

He had to admit, he had no idea what they were at the moment. However, he knew exactly what he wanted them to be.

"I want you… I want you to be my… girlfriend… Levy," He felt his face heat up as he spoke and looked down at their entwined hands.

There was a lingering pause and he was beginning to think he'd screwed up yet again, when suddenly he heard a squeal and he felt her release his hands as she threw herself against his chest, snuggling in. "Really Gajeel?"

He couldn't help but smile. "Of course Shorty, I mean it."

She looked up at him with a big smile and slowly inched closer. When he could feel her breath on his lips, he realized what was going on and felt himself panic. He knew being girlfriend and boyfriend was a big step but there was something that kept him from taking the next big step. It was a mix of insecurity and guilt; he was terrified of screwing that part up. He also realized he probably stunk after running all those laps. He couldn't do it. Not right now anyway.

He coughed loudly, startling the petite Blunette, who pulled away a little and gave him a scrutinizing look.

"Sorry I had something in my throat," He muttered lamely, unable to meet her gaze.

She didn't say anything but continued giving him that look. It felt like she was trying to open up a map inside his mind and he was growing more and more uncomfortable by the second.

He cleared his throat. "I should go shower and stuff," He gave her a small, guilty smile as he got up. "See ya later Shrimp."

He didn't bother looking her way again as he walked away. He had caught a glimpse of her while getting up and he had seen the disappointment in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Levy," He whispered to himself when he was back outside in the bright sunlight. "Just give me some time."

* * *

A few days later it was finally Friday and the Fairy Tail girls had all gathered in the guilds kitchen to work on baking a cake for the newest member of their guild, Wendy Marvell. The young sky dragon slayer had joined the day before but still didn't know many people aside from Romeo, whom she shared a few classes with, so the girls and a few of the boys decided to throw her a small welcome party and shower her with presents and baked goods.

That had been the plan anyway. It turns out the baking portion of the afternoon wasn't going as well as they'd hoped.

"Oh god," The girls turned to see Cana in the doorway looking alarmed. "Who let Erza in the kitchen?"

 _"Good question,"_ Lucy thought dryly. The requip mage had been here only an hour and so far she'd managed to break a whole carton of eggs and spill milk all over Evergreen, who had been less than thrilled.

"Oh be quiet," Erza waved her spatula in Cana's direction, sending bits of batter flying in that direction. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Right…" Cana muttered as she wiped batter off her arm.

"Erza, it's really okay," Juvia called from the other side of the large kitchen. "We seem to have all the baking under control."

"Don't be ridiculous, you need all the help you can get." Erza cracked an egg into a red mixing bowl and Lucy watched in horror as part of the egg shell fell in with the other ingredients. Erza didn't even seem to notice as she began mixing it all together.

"Actually Erza," Mirajane stepped forward with a tentative smile. "We aren't going to have enough time to make the Strawberry Cake so-"

"WHAT?!" Erza dropped the mixing bowl on the floor. By some miracle, it landed upright and Lucy found herself releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "It's not a party without strawberry cake."

Mira giggled, "Of course not Erza, which is why I need your assistance."

"I'm listening," Erza ignored the bowl she dropped, stepping over it towards Mira.

"The bakery in town is still open, I'll give you the money," She said, reaching into the pocket of her apron. "You know them better than any of us and you can be sure they give us the best strawberry cake they have."

Erza lit up like a Christmas tree, "I most certainly do and I most certainly will." She snatched the money from Mira and threw off her apron before heading to the door.

She turned one last time to the girls in the kitchen, "Fear not ladies, our evening will not be without strawberry goodness." And with that, she strode out the door.

Lucy turned to Mirajane, "Were you even planning on making a strawberry cake?"

"Nope," She giggled. "Jellal warned me Erza would try to help so I made it my back-up plan."

" _Jellal_ warned you?" Lucy questioned with wide eyes.

"Oh yeah," Cana smirked, grabbing the deserted mixing bowl off the floor and dumping it in the sink. "Apparently she tried to make dinner for him a couple of days ago and she nearly set the boys' apartment on fire. Thankfully Natsu was there to eat up the flames."

"She what?!" Lucky shrieked. Erza was great at so many things; who knew cooking would be her weakness.

"Then she told him about our plans today and he went and told Mira as fast as he could," Cana snickered. "Bless him; this evening could've been a real disaster."

"Didn't you guys grow up together? How did you not know about this?" Juvia questioned as she brought forward her finished chocolate cake. It looked amazing.

"I'm not sure actually," Lisanna put a finger to her chin. "I guess it's because she's never really tried to cook or bake anything before."

Bisca and Evergreen, who'd been decorating sugar cookies over in the corner, came forward with their finished product. All the cookies had designs with white dragons and cats surrounded by blue.

"Good job girls," Mira cheered. "These look awesome!"

"I hope Wendy appreciates them, they took ages to decorate," Bisca chuckled.

"I'm sure she will," Mira took the tray with a smile.

Suddenly Elfman came barging into the kitchen, "Man, it smells amazing in here!"

"Elfman!" Lisanna shrieked, grabbing her brother. "What are you doing in here? We're trying to get all of this food ready for Wendy's party!"

"Actually Elfman, while you're here…" Juvia stepped forward with a plate of chocolate chip cookies in the shape of cats. "Could you try one and tell Juvia how it tastes?"

"Sure thing!" He grinned, grabbing one off the tray.

As he bit down, he moaned a bit and Lucy felt Evergreen stiffen beside her.

"Are they good?" Juvia questioned with a hopeful expression.

"Oh yeah," He threw the rest of the cookie in his mouth and pumped a fist in the air. "Super manly!"

There was a long pause in the room as they watched Elfman grab another cookie and devour it. Then their gazes turned to Juvia whose expression had morphed from one of hope to one of anguish.

"M-my adorable kitty cookies are… m-manly?" Juvia looked down in horror at her creations.

"That's just his way of complimenting them, don't worry Juvia," Lisanna smiled and patted her friend on the back. The blunette looked unconvinced though as she studied the cookies more closely.

"Really Juvia, they look super cute!" Lucy tried, but the water mage just continued to stare solemnly at the cookies.

"Now look what you've done…" Evergreen growled at him. "Look, I need to go to the store to pick up some more ingredients and you're coming with me. You clearly aren't any help over here and I need someone to carry my grocery bags for me."

She grabbed her coat from the counter and strode towards the door, "Hurry up you big oaf!"

Elfman looked conflicted as he glanced at the cookies then at Evergreen's retreating figure. He chose the latter and rushed out the door behind her yelling, "Wait up, Ever!"

The room was silent before Cana snickered, "So do you think she'll actually pick up the ingredients or just drag him off to some alleyway to make out?"

"Gross Cana, that's my brother you're talking about," Lisanna wrinkled her nose and the other girls giggled.

Make out? "Wait, they're dating?" Lucy asked, clearly confused. They definitely didn't play the part of the happy couple.

"Secretly," Cana used finger quotations and smirked. "They think no one knows, but they're anything but subtle. It's been going on for about a year now."

"Why doesn't someone just tell them we know?"

Bisca chuckled. "Nah, this way they get to think they're being all sneaky and stuff while we get to sit around and make fun of them behind their backs."

"Juvia thinks it's romantic," The blunette swooned on the spot, still holding her cookies.

"I'm sure you do," Cana grinned, throwing an arm around the water mage. "I bet you'd love to be doing some sneaking around of your own with icicle boy." She chuckled as Juvia went bright red.

Lucy grinned, turning back to the croissants she had been working on. She only had one more to wrap and then they would finally be going in the oven.

"Speaking of romance _Lucy_ …" She heard Mira say.

Lucy whirled around and suddenly all eyes were on her. Oh god, this couldn't be good.

"What's going on with you and Natsu?" Mira smiled innocently.

"N-Natsu?!" Lucy dropped the croissant she'd be folding onto the floor. With a sad sigh, she picked it up and tossed it into the trash nearby.

"Well its clear there's something going on there, at least on your end," Cana chuckled. "Natsu is a little harder to read."

"I do not like Natsu that way," Lucy said, crossing her arms.

"Lucy, he crawls into your bed at least once a week," Juvia said with an eyebrow raised.

"He what?!" The other girls shrieked.

"Yeah, while I'm sleeping," Lucy growled, ignoring the questioning looks from the other girls. "If I was conscious it would be a different story entirely!"

The girls didn't respond but a few more eyebrows were raised.

"He must like you. Gray would never do something like that to me," Juvia said sadly, setting the cookie tray down on the counter. Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her despite her taking Mira's side in the Natsu argument. She had to fall for Gray of all people; that had to be tough.

"You should just crawl into his bed with him one night," Cana winked at Juvia whose face flamed up once more. "Could you imagine the look on his face?" She chuckled, undoubtedly picturing the scenario in her head.

"Cana!" Mira admonished, casting a worried look at Juvia.

"Oh c'mon Mira, you know it's true," She snickered. "Actually, on second thought, he'd probably like it if you snuck in," She winked at the blushing water mage. "I'll do it and take pictures too. It'll be hilarious."

"I doubt he would…" Juvia looked down. "I'd just annoy him like I usually do."

"Juvia, have you seen the holes in the walls of his apartment?" Cana grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look up.

"Holes?" Juvia looked blankly at her.

Mira giggled, "Oh right, I almost forgot about that."

"What holes?" Juvia asked, looking frantically between the two girls.

"Well, from what Natsu told me," Lucy started, ignoring the suggestive looks from Cana and Mira. "Gray apparently punched like 3 holes in the walls of their apartment because he was jealous of you and Lyon."

"He did?!" Lisanna and Bisca exclaimed in unison. Apparently not everyone was up to date on Gray's jealous rage spirals.

"He was probably just mad at Lyon," Juvia looked down again. "They're always fighting over something."

"Juvia," Cana spoke rather impatiently, "If Gray was pissed at Lyon; he'd just punch Lyon himself, not a wall."

Lucy giggled, "She's right you know. Plus, we've all seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one's looking."

Juvia's head perked up at what Lucy said, "How does he look at me?"

"Like he's having some sort of internal conflict of whether to stay where he is or jump you," Cana grinned at Juvia's bright red face.

Lucy rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile, "It's true actually, though I'd say it's more like you're the only girl in the room… seriously," she added, noting the look of disbelief on Juvia's face. "Yesterday in English class, Natsu made like a dozen paper cranes and lined them all around the edge of Gray's desk. He didn't even notice. He was literally that focused on you. I'm actually surprised you couldn't feel his eyes boring into the back of your skull."

"Maybe he just didn't care?" Juvia offered, though she looked much more hopeful now.

Lucy snorted, "Oh he cared alright. When he snapped out of it and saw all the birds on his desk, he flipped out and started fighting Natsu."

"Oh that's what they were fighting about?" Juvia giggled, she looked much happier now. "Maybe I should sit up at the front more often."

"Why were you sitting at the front anyway?" Lucy asked. Juvia usually sat between Lucy and Gray near the back of the room.

"Well," She nervously twirled a finger around a lock of blue hair, "I'm trying to give Gray some space. Erza told me I should."

"What? Why?" Lucy asked but before the water mage could respond, Mira cut in.

"Actually, that's good advice," She said gently. "Gray isn't very good with this kind of stuff. When it comes to romance, he moves at a much slower pace than most people."

"That's true actually…" Cana agreed. "Plus he's been getting a lot of shit from the other guys lately so it's probably a good thing you're keeping your distance right now. I'm sure he appreciates that."

"Don't give up yet Juvia," Lisanna smiled, putting an arm around her friend. "He just needs time but I think it'll be worth the wait in the end."

"Thanks guys," Juvia smiled wistfully. "I sure hope so."

* * *

"Are you having fun Wendy?" Lucy sat down beside the younger girl with a smile.

"I am," She said brightly. "Thank you so much for the party!"

Lucy giggled, "Well, it was a team effort. The girls handled food, the boys decorated…" Lucy stopped and looked around the room. The decorations were actually awful. Gray and Natsu had gotten into a fight while hanging streamers and they now hung limply against the wall in a shredded mess. On top of that, they weren't even the right colours. The theme was blue and white, to match the sky, and instead the decorations were purple and orange. "Actually on second thought, I apologize on behalf of the boys for the decorations. They're a total disaster aren't they?" Lucy buried her face in her hands.

Wendy laughed, "It's okay, really! It's the thought that counts and I'm just grateful to be able to join Fairy Tail."

"Well we're happy to have you," Lucy smiled, giving her a hug.

"YO LUCE!"

Lucy groaned. This wasn't going to be good, she was sure of it. Natsu had been nothing but trouble all day long.

"Natsu?" She questioned as the two girls turned to look at the approaching dragon slayer.

"Wanna play a prank on Ice Princess?"

"Natsu can't we just enjoy this party peacefully?" Lucy whined, grabbing him by the scarf and pulling him down beside her.

"But Lucy…" He whined back, resting his head on her shoulder.

Wendy giggled, "You should listen to your girlfriend, Natsu."

His head shot up almost immediately and the two turned to the younger girl who was grinning.

"Girlfriend?" Natsu questioned incredulously. "You mean Lucy?"

"Of course she does idiot, we're the only ones at this table," She sighed, turning to Wendy. "Actually Wendy, we're just friends."

The younger girl looked surprised and then blushed, "Oh! I'm so sorry; I just assumed the two of you were together. You seem so close and Cana mentioned something about sharing a bed…"

Lucy looked over to Cana who winked at her from the bar.

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at Wendy.

"People see you leaving my room in the morning Natsu," Lucy answered irritably. "Which is why you've got to stop doing that."

"But your bed is so much nicer than mine," He complained, crossing his arms.

"It's the same as yours Natsu, all students have the same ones in their dorms," Lucy groaned.

Wendy giggled at the same time Gray came up beside them, "Well the two of you sure fight like an old married couple. Give the poor kid a break, she doesn't wanna listen to the two of you fight over which side of the bed to sleep on," He teased.

"Shut up you Pervy Popsicle," Natsu leaped up. "You're just jealous because Juvia hasn't crawled into your bed yet," He smirked at Gray's red face.

"Don't be ridiculous Natsu," He frowned, but Lucy saw him sneak a peek at Juvia across the room.

Erza walked over with Jellal in tow, carrying a piece of cake on a plate, "Wendy! You must try a piece of this strawberry cake, it's absolutely divine." She raved, placing the plate in the blunette girl's hands.

"Thanks Erza!" Wendy smiled brightly.

"Wow, this must be a very special occasion Erza. You never share your strawberry cake," Gray chuckled.

Erza scowled at the ice mage, "Hush Gray, go find your pants."

"Crap!" Gray looked down then spun around looking for his clothes while Natsu fell over cackling.

"How do you live with them, Jellal?" Lucy grinned at the blue haired man.

"Having Erza for a girlfriend and those two as roommate's means I'm never bored," He chuckled.

"Speaking of roommates, have you seen Gajeel?" Lucy asked. "I haven't seen him or Levy all day."

"He told me he wasn't feeling well this morning," Jellal shrugged. "Why, is something going on?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "I don't know… it's certainly strange though because that's the same excuse Levy gave me this morning for not being here."

"They probably just wanted some alone time," Jellal smiled.

"Yeah I suppose you're right…" Lucy offered him a small smile before he turned back to his girlfriend.

"Hey Luce," Natsu came bounding up again. "Let's prank Gajeel!"

Lucy sighed and put her hands to her face, "He's not even here Natsu."

"He isn't?" He asked, spinning around. "Since when?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Forget it Natsu, let's dance."

"Dance?" He recoiled at the word.

"Yep, you're dancing with me." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the small dance floor near the stage where a few couples were dancing to a slow song.

Natsu surveyed the other couples dancing around them with a look of horror, "Dragon Slayers don't dance Lucy."

"Oh really?" She smirked, placing his hands on her hips. "Then how come Wendy is over there dancing with Romeo?"

"She's a girl," He huffed, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Oh yeah? Well Laxus sure isn't," Lucy giggled, pointing to where the blonde dragon slayer was dancing with Mirajane.

When Natsu caught sight of Laxus he laughed, "Yeah, well he doesn't look any happier to be here than I am," Which was true, Lucy had to admit. Laxus looked like he rather be buried alive than dance with anyone. Even if it was Mira, whom – she had a feeling –he had a soft spot for.

Lucy looped her arms around Natsu's neck and they swayed side to side, "See this isn't so bad is it? Nice and easy."

"Is this even dancing?" Natsu wrinkled his nose. "I feel more like a tree about to topple over."

"Shut up and enjoy this," She smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

"Smacking me on the head is supposed to help me enjoy this?" He rolled his eyes but grinned right after. "Whatever weirdo."

"Don't call me weird!"

"But you are…"

"Am not, Natsu!"

"Are too, Luigi."

"Are you trying to piss me off?!" Lucy hissed, feeling her temper rising.

There was a pause; then he roared with laughter, keeping one hand on her hip while the other clutched his stomach and suddenly she couldn't even remember why she was mad anymore. She found herself giggling quietly along with whatever it was he was laughing about. That was the thing about Natsu, his laughter was infectious. He could be impulsive, immature and hot-headed but he was also sweet, caring, loyal and brave as well. The pros outweighed the cons when it came to him. No matter how crazy or impulsive he was, it was impossible to dwell on the negative once he grinned that big toothy grin of his.

Would it be so bad to have a guy like Natsu as a boyfriend?

Lucy looked up and found he was staring at her. She looked away quickly, feeling her cheeks heat up. Blushing was normal for her but what wasn't normal was the strange fluttery feeling she now felt in the pit of her stomach after looking Natsu in the eye.

She looked around and locked eyes with Cana, who winked at her from where she sat at the bar.

Lucy shook her head. She didn't like Natsu that way, she couldn't. He was her best friend.  
That's what she told herself, yet she still found herself moving her arms from around his neck to around his back and burying her face in the crook of his neck. She felt him stiffen for a moment before he gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as they continued to sway to the music.

It was amazing how right it felt being in Natsu's arms like this; and that scared Lucy more than anything.

* * *

For the first time since he'd met Juvia, Gray actually found himself afraid to approach her. It wasn't that she was unfriendly to him in any way, but her distant behaviour was so unusual it just made him all nervous and jittery around her. At least that was what he believed to be the cause for his nervousness.

He watched as the blue haired water mage separated from the group of girls she was talking with and walked over to the bar to get another drink. If he was going to talk to her, now was the perfect time.

"Just do it," A voice whispered in his ear, scaring him half to death. He leapt around coming face to face with Cana.

"Why is it always you?" He scowled. "And didn't I _just_ see you sitting at the bar?"

She shrugged, "I move fast."

"Whatever," He growled. "I'm going home."

As he turned to leave, he felt a strong hand grab him by the shoulder and yank him back.

"No you most certainly are not!" Said a voice he knew all too well.

He whipped around to face Lyon, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Lyon simply smirked, "I was invited with Chelia. She and Wendy are quite close after all."

Gray groaned and rubbed his eyes. "You're like a bad dream."

"I appreciate the sentiment Gray," He muttered dryly. "Now why are you _still_ avoiding Juvia?"

"I'm not avoiding her, she's avoiding me!" He sputtered. He looked over to where Cana stood for back up but she was no longer there. He scanned the room and saw she was back at the bar again chatting with Mira and Lisanna.

"Right and I'm a dragon slayer," Lyon rolled his eyes.

"You're certainly as annoying as one…" Gray muttered under his breath.

Lyon ignored him, "Gray go talk to Juvia before I turn you into a human popsicle."

"I'd love to see you try," Gray challenged, raising his fists.

"I'm not fighting you, you fool," He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Honestly, I have no idea what she sees in you."

"She still wants me over you," Gray shot back.

"Yes and that officially makes you the stupidest man alive for not doing anything about it."

"Why are you so supportive of us anyway?" Gray narrowed his eyes. "It's weird."

"I'm supportive of _Juvia_ ," Lyon corrected, rolling his eyes. "It just so happens that the object of her affections needs a kick in the pants to get moving."

"I do not!"

"Oh really? Well then I suggest you move of your own accord and catch up to her because she just left." Lyon rolled his eyes again as Gray frantically scanned the room.

He made sure to shoot Lyon one last withering look before running out the door into the cool night air.

* * *

"I think we may need to change up our plan with Natsu and Lucy," Mira said as she poured a beer for Laxus at the bar.

"Well it's clear they don't need your help," Laxus grinned, motioning in the direction of the dancing couple. "I say we leave them be."

Mira frowned, "But they will Laxus, just you wait," She wagged a finger at him. "They're both stubborn. We'll be the ones to give them that extra push they need."

Laxus sighed into his beer, "Of course we will…"

"In the meantime…" She grinned and Laxus looked up with a scowl. "No way Mira, I agreed to one unlucky couple, not two."

Mira pouted, "But Bixlow seems so lonely…"

"Bixlow?!" He nearly choked on his drink. "Who the hell are you gonna set him up with?"

"Lisanna…"

Laxus sighed, "I can't see that working in your favour Mira. Bixlow has always been more of a bachelor."

"Well so was Gray and now look at him, pining over Juvia," Mira grinned.

"Fullbuster? A bachelor?" Laxus snorted. "I doubt he's even kissed a girl before."

"It's kinda surprising to hear that about Bixlow though…" Mira said, ignoring Laxus. "I didn't think many girls would go crazy for the helmet look…"

"Yeah well, when he takes off the helmet and keeps his tongue in check, the girls seem to like it for some reason," Laxus said, taking another sip.

"Interesting…" Mira tapped her index finger on her chin, turning to observe Bixlow, who appeared to be in the middle of teasing Elfman and Evergreen.

"Mira stop," Laxus grabbed her arm. "He's happy the way he is, leave him."

"Laxus," She turned suddenly, giving him her sweetest smile. If he was going to be stubborn with her, she'd give seduction a try.

He gulped audibly as she bent over the bar towards him putting her cleavage on display, "You could talk to Bixlow for me, couldn't you?" She whispered the last two words in his ear, letting out a light breath right after.

She noticed Laxus shiver and she pulled away. He was now scowling at her with a faint pink tint spreading across his cheeks, "That won't work on me Mirajane," He grumbled, but after a moment he got up and walked over to Bixlow anyway.

Mira couldn't help but smile. Who knew spending time with Laxus Dreyar could be this fun?

* * *

"Juvia, wait!" The water mage froze mid-step and turned to find Gray jogging towards her.

"Hi Gray," She smiled brightly at the approaching ice mage. It wasn't often he sought her out like this. "What are you doing out here?"

"I thought I'd walk back to the dorms with you," He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling nervous. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," She smiled and turned around to continue walking. She was happy to spend some alone time with Gray that wasn't initiated by her for once. For a while now, she'd been feeling like an annoyance to him, so it was nice to see he still wanted to spend time with her. Of course, she was also supposed to be giving him space, but he had approached her so she figured it was fine. Plus, not being able to approach him whenever she wanted was killing her.

"Juvia?" She was startled from her thoughts by Gray waving his hand in front of her face. She had been so consumed by her thoughts she hadn't realized he had been talking to her.

"Sorry!" She squeaked, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Gray furrowed his brow, "Are you mad at me?"

She looked up at him in surprise. Why on earth would he think that? "Of course not!"

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow, "Because it feels like you've been avoiding me lately…"

Crap. "No, of course not," Juvia chuckled nervously. "Juvia would never avoid you. We're friends after all."

He eyed her suspiciously, "Then how come you sat all the way up at the front in English class yesterday?"

She shrugged, "Yukino was lonely?"

"You didn't speak to her once the entire class," He frowned.

"Yes I-" She started, then paused. Did Gray just admit to watching her in English class? A huge smile spread across her face.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked warily.

"How do you know I didn't speak to Yukino in English class Gray?" She couldn't help but shoot him a smug look.

Beneath the glow of the streetlamps she could see his face turn a brilliant shade of red.

"I wasn't – I didn't – I –" He broke off, looking around in desperation as though the answer might be plastered to one of the buildings around them. He sighed in defeat, turning back to the blunette, "I just… I was worried you were upset so I was… watching you I guess…" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sorry…"

"Don't be sorry," She said brightly. "It's nice to know you care, honestly. No one ever did before I came to Magnolia… Except for Gajeel I guess, he shows it in his own way but he was good to have around compared to everyone else in Phantom Lord, they were pretty awful…" She trailed off when she realized she had been rambling.

When she glanced up at Gray he was looking at her oddly with a look she couldn't quite describe, but it was gone before she could figure it out and he cleared his throat, "Well, of course I care," He shrugged, picking up his pace just a bit so that she had to jog to catch up. They were reaching the outskirts of town and the Academy was coming into view in the distance. "I'm your friend after all."

 _Friend_. Somehow the word was fine when she used it but when Gray used it with her it was like a knife to the gut. Just another reminder that he still didn't return her feelings. "Right…" She smiled sadly.

She felt Gray's gaze land on her once more but she couldn't bring herself to meet it. They walked in silence a little while longer until she decided to change the topic to Natsu and Lucy. Juvia couldn't help but feel a little jealous when she thought of how cozy they had looked on the dance floor back at the guild.

She thought of what everyone had told her so far.  
 _"Be patient with Gray", "He moves at a slower pace than most people", "He just needs some space", "Don't worry Juvia, it'll be worth the wait"_

She looked over at him as he was telling her a story about a prank he and Natsu played on Lucy, and she couldn't control the giant smile that stretched across her face as he laughed. Juvia knew it didn't matter anymore how long Gray made her wait, she was in too deep now to care.

They had finally reached the academy and were making their way through the gates when Gray cleared his throat, looking nervous all of the sudden.

"Hey Juvia, remember that mission we took together?" He asked, running a hand through his hair.

A few weeks ago they had taken their first mission together; a weekend mission from the request board, with permission from the academy. They had been tasked with defeating some sort of lake monster in a nearby town. It had been an easy job, especially when they combined their powers to defeat the beast. They had finished in one day instead of two and the townspeople had treated them to a feast before leaving. It had been a lot of fun actually. Juvia had been hoping to take another mission with Gray but she had also been trying to give him space, which made it all quite difficult.

"Yes, I enjoyed that," She smiled up at him and was surprised to see him smiling back.

"I did too," He chuckled. "We work well together." She nodded her head in agreement.

There was a pause before he continued, "How would you feel about taking another one with me next weekend?"

"I'd love to," She smiled. "Maybe we can finish early again and get another free dinner," She suggested, smiling as he laughed.

"Sounds good to me," He grinned as they approached the courtyard of the dorms.

"I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?" Juvia asked, still smiling.

"You bet," He nodded. Then before either of them knew what was happening, Gray had pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her. "Goodnight Juvia," He murmured into her hair, and she felt a wave of electricity jolt through her.

"G-Goodnight Gray," She whispered back, feeling especially cold when he released her and pulled away. He walked down the path towards the boys dorm and she turned and headed for hers.

She walked the rest of the way up to her apartment in a trance, only breaking it when she finally plopped down on her bed. She wrapped her arms around herself remembering Gray's strong arms around her and the feel of his face buried in her hair. She felt her cheeks heat up immensely.

He hugged her. She hadn't initiated or forced it, it was all him. Juvia sighed happily and rolled over on her bed grabbing a pillow to hug. A hug for some people didn't mean much, but when it came to Gray, it meant something for sure.

Juvia let out another happy sigh. Maybe Lisanna was right after all; when it came to Gray, he was worth the wait.

* * *

 **A/N: That's it for this week folks. Next chapter will be up Sunday, March 26th.**

 **Soooo I thought GaLe had it too easy so I decided they're gonna suffer for another chapter or two. We'll see how generous I'm feeling.**

 **I like Jerza as a couple so I feel like this is it for them. However, stick around to see what crazy antics they get up to as a couple ;)**

 **RoWen is a popular ship but I'm probably not doing anything romantic with them in this since they're only like 13 in the story. I think they'd actually be really good as friends if Mashima would allow it but as you can see with everything he does, he likes to taunt people.**

* * *

 _ **I'll actually reply to reviews for once, I always forget to but I will today since I have time right now :)  
[I'm responding to the most recent ones]**_

 _ **Silver Alpha - Thank you! This chapter sort of hints at it, I'm not sure if there's much room for what I have planned with them to include their bromance but I'll try my best :) I've got other Gruvia fics lined up for the future that will definitely include it.**_

 _ **NylliaDelta - Yes I did hahaha. I actually really like Lyon and in the show he's not even that bad haha, so I agree when you say other people portray him as some kind of evil, jealous guy. I don't think he's like that at all. I think if all this went down in the canon material, Lyon would be lighting a fire under Gray's butt in the same way. I'm glad you like it :)**_

 _ **Guest (Ch.4 - Mar.7) - Yeah that's actually a big reason why she's written so out of character in this fic haha. The dialogue I have going between the characters works better with her in first person, not flipping out every 5 seconds. I love her but canon Juvia doesn't work for this fic. She'll definitely appear in other ones I have planned though.**_

 _ **Violet2971 - Hahaha I appreciate your reviews! 3 is better than none at all so thank you :) Yeah, I think my biggest problem in this story is pacing but hopefully I'll figure that out soon haha. I feel like I don't write that well at all so thank you LOL**_

 _ **Kimchimustard - Hahaha oh man, I bet that was confusing. I'm glad you like all the Gruvia stuff, they're my favourite ship :) and thanks for reviewing!**_

 _ **Sarara1.8 - Thanks for your reviews! I'm glad you're still reading :)**_

 _ **Guest (Ch.6 - Mar.4) - No problem :) I'm guessing you were the one who requested Gruvia? You should choose a guest name to review with so I can keep track of you haha :) No need to worry about lack of Gruvia in future chapters, they're my favourite ship and I find it REALLY hard not to include them in some way in every chapter. I'm also planning on writing other Gruvia fics in the future so I hope you stick around :)**_

 _ **Kyogan-Saori: Haha you guessed it. Lyon did have a reason ;)**_

 _ **Guest (Ch.5 - Mar.1) - Ahh I know I hate it when Juvia suffers too but I gotta let them slow burn a little haha. I did include a little moment in this chapter, I hope you liked it!**_

 _ **Soul Raider 116: Thank you! I'm so glad you like it :)**_

 _ **Guest (Ch.4 - Feb.20) - I love Lyon and jealous Gray so there'll definitely be lots of that, don't you worry ;)**_


	8. Conflict Resolution

**A/N: I'm sorry, I failed yet again at getting a new chapter up on time. My social life is to blame, I apparently have more of one than I thought.**

* * *

"Levy McGarden, you will open this door at once or I will break it down!"

Levy groaned loudly from beneath the soft blue comforter of her bed. Leave it to Erza to play mom in this situation.

She had feigned illness and managed to go most of the week undetected. But her roommates had grown increasingly wary of her absence and had come looking for her this morning, seeking answers.

There was another loud knock and Levy moved further under the covers. She really wasn't in the mood to talk about her weird relationship.

"Oh, I have an idea!" She heard Lucy chirp from behind the door.

There was a pause before she spoke again, "OPEN, GATE OF THE MAIDEN – VIRGO!"

Oh god.

There was a booming noise and a flash of light, causing Levy to emerge from under the covers.

There, standing before her – _inside her bedroom_ – was Lucy's celestial spirit.

"Is it time for punishment?" She looked around and spotted Levy sitting on the bed with her jaw agape. Virgo tilted her head in confusion, "You're not the princess?"

"VIRGO," Lucy shouted through the door. "Unlock the door and let us in!"

She turned towards the door with her usual vacant expression, "Certainly, Princess."

The second the door was opened, the girls rushed through like the doorway might collapse on them at any given moment.

"Levy!" Juvia cried, "You're alright, thank goodness!"

"Thanks Virgo," Lucy smiled at her spirit.

"Anything for you princess. Is it time for punishment now?"

"Nope," Lucy replied, popping the p. "Thanks again!" She raised her key, sending the spirit back.

"Why are you in here hiding from everyone?" Erza asked, frowning.

Levy sighed, she supposed now was as good a time as ever to tell them. After all, she'd already missed a few days of school, she really couldn't afford to skip out and hide tomorrow as well.

"I'm not really hiding from everyone…" She mumbled, looking down. "I'm hiding from Gajeel…"

"Oh, so something happened between you two?" Juvia asked, tilting her head. "That would explain why he hasn't come out of his room either."

"He hasn't?" Levy looked up, feeling a small spark of hope. Knowing him that meant that he knew what happened between them was peculiar and he was feeling too guilty to face her.

"That's what Jellal told me," Lucy said, observing her friend with an anxious look.

"So what happened exactly?" Erza asked, planting herself down on the corner of the bed.

"Well… first of all, he told me he wanted me to be his girlfriend…"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Juvia asked, taking a seat at the small wooden desk across from the bed.

"Yeah, it's what happened after that that wasn't good…" Levy sighed. "Actually, it's something that's kinda been a problem since our first date back at the start of the school year."

"And that was…?" Erza motioned for her to continue.

"Well, we shared that happy moment…" She started, "And I hugged him, and then we were so close, so I leaned in to kiss him –" She was interrupted by squeals from Lucy and Juvia. "–and he coughed right in my face… deliberately." The two girls fell silent. "Then he made some lame excuse about needing a shower and I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"That… that's a weird way to stop a kiss…" Lucy said, raising an eyebrow.

"You need to talk to him Levy," Erza urged, getting up from the bed. "It's the only way to resolve this."

Juvia remained silent, lost in thought.

"Juvia?" Levy waved an arm in front of her, attempting to get the water mage's attention. Juvia looked up inquisitively at Levy. "What do you think about this Juvia? You know Gajeel best."

Juvia sighed, "I think Gajeel is scared of hurting you and disappointing you."

"But that's exactly what he did anyway," Erza growled, shaking her head.

"Yes, but let's not forget he's not used to this kind of stuff. Much like Gray, he reacts differently than most in situations like this one." Juvia said thoughtfully. "I think you should talk to him, but I think you should hear him out as well…"

Lucy nodded, "He probably thinks he's doing what's best, so you'll just have to go over there and talk it out with him and let him know how you feel about all of this."

"Now that I think about it, this sounds a lot like Jellal and Erza's situation," Juvia smiled. "Just one big misunderstanding."

Erza furrowed her brow, "She's right actually. It's funny how much more damage can be done by running away from the problem than facing it head on. You definitely shouldn't copy my behaviour, Levy." She added, giving the script mage a stern look.

"That's true," Levy sighed. "And don't worry Erza, I won't." She gave the redhead a small smile before lying back down on the bed again.

As her friends talked amongst themselves about the Erza and Jellal situation, Levy's mind wandered to Gajeel, wondering how he was handling the situation at present.

* * *

"COME ON OUT GAJEEL AND FIGHT ME."

"Natsu-"

"QUIT ACTING LIKE SOME PRINCESS LOCKED AWAY IN HER TOWER AND FIGHT ME."

Gray sighed, "Remind me why we decided to include him in this?"

Jellal shrugged as Natsu turned his fiery gaze on the ice mage, "You wanna go Frosty?"

"No, Natsu, I really don't," Gray rolled his eyes, "We have more important things to worry about right now." He motioned with one hand towards Gajeel's bedroom door.

Jellal raised an eyebrow, "Wow, you never turn down a fight with Natsu."

"Yeah well I-"

"He's right," Natsu closed in on Gray, scrutinizing him. "You've been in way too good a mood since Friday night, what gives?"

Jellal snorted, "You can thank a certain water mage for that…"

Gray whipped around to face Jellal, "How do you- what do you-"

"Erza and I were walking close behind you guys, we hung back a little to give you some privacy," The blue haired boy winked.

"What happened?" Natsu asked excitedly just before the bedroom door flew open, knocking him off his feet.

"WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN YOU AND JUVIA?" Gajeel roared, getting right in the ice mage's face.

Gray rolled his eyes. So this is what it took to bring Gajeel out of hiding. "It was nothing exciting."

Gajeel looked at him skeptically, "You ain't fooling me Stripper. You're red as a tomato."

Natsu and Jellal snickered. Gray shot them a withering look before answering, "You know what, I'll tell you if you tell us what the hell is going on with you and Levy," He huffed, then added, "And Natsu can tell you about his little dance with Lucy."

"Bunny girl?!" Gajeel turned on Natsu with an incredulous look.

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened with Lucy," Natsu frowned.

"Sure it did," Gray grinned. "You're just too dense to figure it out."

" _I'm_ the dense one?" Natsu scowled, "Says you Ice Princess. I'm sure Juvia would agree."

"You're _both_ dense," Gajeel cut in, rolling his eyes. He then turned to Jellal, "If you tell me what happened between them and those girls, I'll tell you everything."

Jellal smirked, "Deal."

* * *

Lucy woke up the next morning to a pleasant warmth beside her. She could hear her alarm go off beside her bed but in her half-asleep state it sounded like it was coming from a great distance. She ignored the bothersome timepiece, snuggling closer to the source of the warmth.

Then there was a grumbling noise and the bed began to shake a bit. She felt something move beside her and reach over her and- "Fire Dragon Iron Fist."  
The words were spoken quietly, but the flaming fist that smashed the alarm clock was anything but.

Lucy was up in a flash, wide awake now, staring at her bedside table which now had a fist sized dent in it and black smoke rising from the indentation.

She turned to the lump under the covers beside her, feeling her temper rising by the second. With a growl, she grabbed the blankets and ripped them off the sleeping Dragon Slayer.

"NATSU WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

He bolted upright immediately, staring at Lucy like she was some sort of foreign object.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?"

"I LIVE HERE IDIOT." She yelled, picking up a pillow off the floor and chucking it at his head.

He caught the pillow and placed it beside him, "Is that all? I'm going back to bed…" He grumbled, lying back down and turning away from her.

Before she could respond her bedroom door flew open, "LUCY WHY ARE YOU BEING SO NOISY AT THIS HOU-?" Erza came thundering into the room but stopped short upon seeing Natsu in Lucy's bed.

"So the rumors are true…" The requip mage stood in the doorway, staring at the slumbering Dragon Slayer in shock.

"I told you so…" A sleepy Juvia mumbled, appearing behind Erza in the doorway.

"Now is so _not_ the time for that," Lucy snapped. She turned to the bed and motioned towards Natsu, "Can one of you _please_ get rid of him?"

Juvia stepped forward with a yawn, "Well, since you said please."

With a wave of her hand a sheet of ice cold water appeared out of thin air and dropped onto the pink haired boy sending him flying into the air with a yelp.

"OI, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" He leaped off the bed, scowling at the three girls.

"It's time for school Natsu, get back to your room and get ready before I make you," Erza said in her deadliest voice, earning a squeak from the boy as he grabbed his shirt and clambered out the window.

Lucy sighed, "Finally. I thought he'd never leave."

"You seemed to be enjoying his presence until he smashed your alarm clock," Erza raised an eyebrow. "As much as I love to see my two friends happy together, I must draw the line at this sharing the bed business. It's quite inappropriate Lucy, you should know better."

" _I_ should?!" Lucy shrieked. "Tell Natsu that, not me. He's the one crawling in here all the time. And we are not together!" She added, crossing her arms.

"No need for the theatrics Lucy, hurry up and get dressed. We're going to be late." Erza said, walking out of the room.

Juvia remained in the doorway looking thoughtful. Lucy groaned inwardly as she waited for another lecture or perhaps some teasing. But the water mage remained silent with an impassive expression.

"Hey Juvia," Lucy called out to her friend, startling her out of her reverie. "You okay?"

"Yes," She smiled softly. "Juvia was just thinking."

"About what?" Lucy asked, grabbing some clothes out of her closet.

"Well… It's not a bad thing y'know…"

"What isn't?" Lucy cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Liking Natsu…" Juvia answered, grinning at Lucy's expression. "I mean sure he's reckless, childish, somewhat arrogant, destructive –"

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Lucy cut in, her tone harsher than intended.

"Of course," The water mage nodded, leaning against the doorframe. "He may be all those things, but he's also kind, loyal, strong and brave. He's a good guy. "

"I never thought I'd hear you compliment a guy who wasn't Gray," Lucy couldn't help but snicker.

Juvia snorted, "Yes well, there's a first time for everything. Though I'll have you know Gray has all of those traits and so much more." She pointed her finger at Lucy threateningly, but her tone was light.

Lucy chuckled before Juvia continued, "I can't help but wonder…" She looked thoughtful as she spoke. "He's a great guy and he cares a great deal about you. Yet, the mere mention or thought of him being your boyfriend and you go all crazy…"

"I do not go all crazy!" Lucy huffed.

"Debatable," Juvia responded dryly.

"My question is," The blunette continued, ignoring the scowl Lucy shot her, "Are you bothered by people pairing you together because you could absolutely never see Natsu that way or because you already do and you're scared of your feelings?"

Lucy remained silent as she processed Juvia's question. Unfortunately, the water mage had a point. Would having Natsu as a boyfriend really be that terrible? It wasn't the first time she'd asked herself that question. And was that the real reason Lucy continued to push the pink haired boy away?

"I-I don't know…" Lucy's voice came out barely above a whisper as she looked anywhere but at Juvia; scared the water mage might see the real answer in her eyes.

"Well give it some thought," Juvia suggested, turning to leave. "Jellal and Erza are looking for another couple to go on double dates with. It could be fun." She winked over her shoulder and Lucy snorted. She could hear Juvia's giggles slowly fade away as she disappeared down the hallway.

* * *

"So, I heard you ended up in Lucy's bed again last night," Jellal teased as the boys found a free table in the back of the dining hall. It was now lunch time and they had managed to convince Gajeel to eat with them.

"Yeah, whatever man." Natsu grumbled. "Her bed is a million times nicer than mine; I don't care what anyone says." He picked up his sandwich, somehow managing to shove the whole thing in his mouth. "I was having a great sleep too," He barely got the words out as he chewed, "Until it was rudely interrupted by Frosty's girlfriend."

"What did Juvia do?" Gray asked a little too quickly and cringed when the boys fixed him with suggestive smirks. "Oh shut up, she's not my girlfriend. I don't think of her like that!"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow, "You trying to convince us or yourself?"

"She dumped ice cold water on Natsu," Jellal responded to Gray's question before he could respond to Gajeel. "Then Erza chased him out the window."

"Yeah a real team effort," Natsu mumbled dryly as the boys burst out laughing around the table.

"Man I gotta thank Juvia for that later," Gray was clutching his stomach as he laughed.

"I'm sure you'll find a way," Jellal winked, causing the ice mage to stop laughing immediately and turn bright red.

"What are you boys laughing about?" Erza's voice brought all laughter to an abrupt halt as they turned to see her and Lucy approaching.

"Natsu's little slumber party," Jellal grinned, moving aside so his girlfriend could sit down beside him.

"Can you stop bringing that up?" Natsu glared at the blue haired boy.

"I agree, let's just eat our lunch in peace for once." Lucy sat down between Natsu and Gajeel.

"Where's Shrimp?" Gajeel asked gruffly, keeping his eyes trained on his food.

"In the library," Erza answered. "She has a lot of schoolwork to catch up on."

No one mentioned where Juvia was, much to Gray's annoyance. He looked around the room to see if she was grabbing some extra food or heading towards their table but he only spotted two other female blunette's in the room and neither of them were the water mage in question.

He turned back to his food and took a couple of bites before twisting back around in his seat and looking towards the door to see if she was arriving late to lunch. But there was still no sign of her and most of the students were settled in their seats now.

"She's not coming," Erza said quietly, eyeing Gray with a smirk. "She has lunch plans with Ultear and Meredy today."

"She does?" Gray was surprised. He knew Juvia had a class with Meredy but he never really thought that they were particularly close. And he had _no_ idea why Ultear would be joining them.

"Her and Meredy have actually become quite close recently," Erza explained, as if reading his thoughts. "She comes over after school sometimes to study with Juvia."

"Huh," Was all Gray said as he processed this new information. He didn't see any problem with Meredy but Ultear was like an older sister to him and her going to lunch with Juvia made him a little anxious. He was sure she was up to something. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do to stop whatever Ultear had planned. He'd just have to wait until he saw Juvia in last period English to get answers.

* * *

"It's nice to meet you Juvia," Ultear smiled as the blunette and Meredy joined her at a small table by one of the bistros large windows, looking out onto the cobbled streets of Magnolia. "Thanks for joining us for lunch today."

"Oh no, thank _you_ for inviting me," The water mage beamed, picking up her menu and scanning the items on it. "This place is one of my favourites."

"Oh yeah?" Ultear perked up at the blunette's comment. "Do you come here often with Gray?"

"Subtle…" Meredy muttered dryly.

"Well… er… no…" Juvia's smile fell as she struggled to put an answer together. "Gray doesn't like to go out to eat with me because it seems too date-like… we usually go to a food truck or something very casual… he always picks." She rambled a bit before stopping and composing herself. "Lyon has taken me here a couple of times though... he's very –"

"Lyon?!" The two girls exclaimed in unison.

"How could Gray be so useless," Ultear slammed her menu down on the table; startling the waitress clearing the table next to theirs. "Letting Lyon show him up like that!"

Juvia winced at the noise, "Oh no, it's okay," She waved her hands in front of her fretfully. "I like the places Gray chooses. They may not be fancy but they're always interesting!"

Ultear sighed, "He's lucky you're so nice…"

Juvia remained silent, unsure of what to say. _Thank you? Yes, I agree?_ _No, I'm the lucky one?_

Thankfully, another waitress came over to take their order, saving her from responding.

After their server left, Meredy spoke up with a sly grin. "So Juvia, is Lyon still in hot pursuit?"

"No, we're just friends now. He's been very good about it." She smiled.

"That's too bad," Meredy pouted. "It was fun watching Gray squirm with jealousy over Lyon."

Juvia giggled, "Oh he wasn't jealous like that. I think he just doesn't like to share his friends." She said; ignoring the two looks of disbelief aimed at her. "He's never seen me like that. When Lyon first asked if I was his girlfriend, the first words out of his mouth were 'don't be ridiculous' so –"

"WHAT?" Ultear cut in, slamming her fists down on the table.

Meredy looked around the room nervously, "Ultear… people are staring…"

"Let them," She hissed, before staring down the startled water mage. "He actually said that?"

"Yeah but I mean we'd just met and –"

"I'll kill him…" She growled.

Juvia could've kissed their server, because for the second time that day, she showed up at their table, this time with their food, just in time to save Juvia from yet another awkward turn in their conversation.

As the girls dug in, the conversation finally veered away from Gray and Juvia's relationship status to school related topics, much to her relief. She wasn't sure how much more Gray talk she could take. It was bad enough that every time the topic of Gray came up, she was reminded of how very one-sided their "relationship" was. She didn't need her friends filling her head with wild fantasies and false hopes. She had already gotten her hopes up after that hug and of course, had been disappointed when Gray reverted back to normal the next day; not even acknowledging that it had happened. He seemed to be in an especially good mood since then, but at this point Juvia knew better than to even bother linking the two together.

* * *

After paying the bill, the girls stepped outside into the sunlight.

"Well, we better start heading back. Class starts in ten minutes," Meredy nodded in Juvia's direction before turning to Ultear. "Thanks for hanging out with us!" She smiled, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Of course," She returned the hug and looked over Meredy's shoulder at Juvia. "And it was nice chatting with you Juvia. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"That would be lovely," Juvia smiled.

"And you tell me if Gray does something stupid," She pointed a finger at the water mage. "I'll make sure he's punished."

"Oh… t-that's not necessary," Juvia chuckled nervously. She liked the boy and wanted to keep him in one piece.

"I'll see you girls later!" Ultear waved as she walked off in the other direction. The two girls bid her farewell before heading back towards the academy, chatting idly. They both had had a free period after the normal lunch period so they were now headed to their last classes of the day.

"Well, I've got my Lost Magic class, so I'm heading this way," Meredy pointed in the opposite direction Juvia needed to go for her class. "I'll see you later!" She waved, disappearing from view around the corner.

Juvia continued walking towards her English class, until she saw something that made her freeze.

Gray was in the doorway of the classroom, laughing with a girl she recognized from their English class; Jenny.

The blunette was about to take another step until she noticed where Jenny's hands were. One was planted on Gray's chest while the other held his arm. He didn't seem to be pushing her away either, smiling as she continued talking to him.

Juvia felt her heart drop into her stomach. She rarely got smiles like that from Gray. She had to work to get them. Yet this girl waltzes in with her dazzling smile and perfect hair, and Gray smiles for her. It just wasn't fair.

Hurt and Jealousy swelled inside her while she felt a numb feeling spread throughout her body. She willed herself to move but she felt like her feet were suddenly made of lead.

She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to move… until Gray's eyes snapped up and met hers.

Juvia barely heard him calling out to her as her feet suddenly got a mind of their own and she turned and sprinted down the hall and out the door.

She finally stopped outside of her dorm, taking deep breaths and cursing herself for being so foolish. She had been so focused on her own feelings that she had failed to notice one very important thing. The man she wanted already had eyes for someone else.

* * *

When Levy approached her favourite window seat; she was more than surprised to find a certain dragon slayer already sitting there, eyes locked on the window.

She took a deep breath, knowing it was now or never. She couldn't keep avoiding Gajeel. At least his coming here meant he wanted to talk too.

"Hi Gajeel…" She said softly, sitting across from him.

He turned and looked at her with wide eyes before grinning, "Hey Shrimp. Sorry for stealing your spot."

She shrugged, "I'm glad you're here actually… can we talk?"

"I'd like that," He said, then added nervously, "Do you mind if I go first?"

"Of course," She smiled, settling into her seat before giving him her full attention.

"Right… okay…" He scratched his head. "Look, Levy… You're honestly the most important person in my life. I have no idea why you chose me, but ever since you did, I've been the happiest man alive." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you know how perfect and precious you are to me? I want so badly to be with you but I'm also terrified of tainting even a single perfect hair on your head. It's how I've felt since I met you. This… insecurity…" He frowned. "There's this voice in my head that nags at me, telling me I'll never be good enough for you. And I believe it. I really can't see what good having me around will do for you. All the bad stuff I did with Phantom Lord really happened. I'm still that guy –"

"You're _not_ that guy!" Levy interjected furiously. "I'm sorry to interrupt you but I just can't sit here and listen to you talk about yourself like that!"

"But –"

"No, I'm sorry but no," She covered her face with her hands, willing herself not to cry out with frustration. "Gajeel, everyone has a past. Whether it is good or bad, it does _not_ define your present or future self. You have come a long way from the cranky, miserable guy I met near the end of the last school year." She paused and glanced curiously at his face, but his expression was still the same stunned one as before. "I don't see that guy anymore; heck, I never really saw him to begin with. It's always been easy for me to see through that tough guy façade you put on." She smiled almost smugly at the thought, earning a scoffing noise from the dragon slayer.

"You're just gonna have to stop with this self-loathing crap," She continued, "Because I'm not going anywhere. Not now, not ever. You're stuck with me." Her smile brightened a bit with her last few words. They strengthened her resolve. It didn't matter what he did in the past, it was the past for a reason. She wasn't going to give up on him when they were only just getting started.

"Y'know I could break you, right?" He grabbed one of her small wrists in his large hand. "You're so tiny. What if something bad happened to you?"

Levy groaned, "Must my size _always_ be brought into this?"

"Can't help it Shrimp, I'd hate myself if I ever caused you any harm."

"You won't." Levy said resolutely, locking her eyes on his. "If anything ever happens to me Gajeel, it won't be your doing. And I think deep down inside you know that as well."

"However," She continued, "You are confusing the hell out of me. Dates are okay? Being boyfriend and girlfriend is okay? But a hug or kiss?..." She questioned, trailing off.

"Is still way out of my comfort zone." He finished. "I'm sorry Shorty; I'm not used to expressing emotions or affections, especially in the _physical_ sense." He put emphasis on the word 'physical'. "No one has ever shown me any kind of friendship, affection or companionship. Hell, even Juvia wasn't all sunshine and butterflies back in Phantom Lord when I knew her. She was pleasant enough, but she had her walls up. She had a really tough time growing up as well."

"And that's okay," Levy placed a tentative hand over his where it rested on the seat between them. "The whole being unable to express emotions properly thing I mean," She amended, "Not the tough time growing up. No one deserves to go through what you two did."

Gajeel's lip curled up just a bit, "I know what you mean, don't worry. And thanks…"

"But that's doesn't mean you can't communicate that to me!" She raised her hand off of his and wagged her finger in his face. "I can't read your mind. If something is wrong or you're feeling uncomfortable you need to tell me."

"You're right Shrimp, I'm sorry." He gave her a full smile now, wrapping her small hand in his.

"So… am I still your girlfriend?" Levy couldn't help but ask. She didn't want any more misunderstandings.

"Of course idiot," Gajeel snorted, earning him a light smack on the arm.

"And what about the physical aspect of our relationship?"

Gajeel seemed to think carefully for a moment before answering.

"I want to…." He said slowly, testing each word. "But I just need a little bit more time. I'm sorry," He added sheepishly.

Levy smiled warmly up at him, "That's okay; I understand a lot better now. As long as I know nothing is wrong between us you take all the time you need."

Gajeel chuckled, "You're way too good to me Shrimp."

"I know," Levy grinned and gasped as he pulled her into lap, grabbing her book. She looked at him questioningly and he shrugged, "We can take this physical thing one step at a time right?" And she nodded in understanding, settling into his arms as he opened the book for her.

Levy sighed happily as he began reading to her – rather badly, she might add. But it didn't matter. He was trying. And that was more than enough for now.

* * *

 **A/N: LOL I'm a terrible person. I submit this chapter late and put Gruvia through the grinder. Did Juvia overreact? Perhaps... but that's Juvia for you. Gotta keep Gray on his toes lol.**

 _ **I'll make up for it (kind of) by announcing that this story will definitely be more than 20 chapters and replying to recent reviews:**_

 _ **PhantomSeekerz255: Thank you so much! I'm so flattered you have no idea haha. You made my day when I read that!**_

 _ **Guest: Hahahaha I'm glad there's others like me out there**_

 _ **Sarara1.8: Awesome, glad to hear it! :)**_

 _ **Soul Raider 116: Haha yes she is. I actually am bringing in Bacchus at some point. I can't tell you when because I'm still working on the best time to introduce him. I'm not sure I'll put them in a relationship or anything like the other couples, but I do love their interactions so they'll definitely be there. They'll probably be in one of my future fics. Still deciding though :) And I totally forgot about the Gildarts/Cana father/daughter relationship omg. Yes I will DEFINITELY be putting that in now haha thank you. I LOVE them.**_

 _ **Kimchimustard: I'm glad you agree, considering what I just did to Gruvia LOL...**_


	9. The Way We Were

**A/N: Sorry for the long absence. School is CRAZY right now and life is pretty busy as well. Updates will probably be bi-weekly or tri-weekly for the rest of April and early May. Just saying this so you know what to expect :) I've also got another story I'm working on now and I really need to get the next chapter out for that one but it looks like it'll be a few days before that happens :/**

 **Thanks for sticking with this story; be sure to leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter ;)**

* * *

The moment class came to an end; Gray was out of his seat and out the door, sprinting towards the girls' dormitory. He had no idea what was going on with Juvia but she had never returned to class and he couldn't help but worry for his friend. She had looked pretty upset before she turned and ran.

He barrelled through the main entrance of the building, earning a few startled gasps and shouts of "watch it jerk" from the girls walking in.

He shouted an apology back, not bothering to turn his head, as he continued up the stairs until he was outside of her apartment. He paused for a moment, debating whether he should knock or just barge in, when the door suddenly opened with a bang and a furious Erza stood there glaring down at him.

"You…" She snarled, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "You've really done it this time."

"Me?" He squawked, trying desperately to pry her hands from his shirt.

"Running off with other girls…" She scowled, releasing him. "Acting like you're single-"

"I _am_ single," Gray cut in, adjusting his shirt. "But I'm not running off with any girls, what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb Gray," Cana came up behind Erza with a matching scowl on her face.

"I'm not," He scowled back, growing impatient. He wanted to see Juvia, not fight with these two. "I don't have time for this. Where's Juvia?"

"She doesn't want to see you," Erza said, blocking his path when he tried to squeeze past her.

"Why not?" He asked incredulously. What could he have possibly done to upset her that much?

"Man you're an idiot," Cana sighed. "None of this would be happening if you just admitted you like Juvia."

Gray couldn't help but groan. Not this again.

"When will you get it through your thick skull," He growled. "I do. Not. Like. Juvia."

"Yes you do," Cana argued. "And you already know she likes you."

"It doesn't matter," Gray felt his voice rising. He couldn't help himself. He was so unbelievably sick and tired of this topic. "I'm not gonna date her just because everyone wants me to."

"Cana, Erza… stop." The soft voice of the water mage came from behind Cana and the two girls turned to look at their friend. Her eyes were red and watery and she had wrapped herself in a light blue blanket.

Gray froze. He hadn't meant for Juvia to hear that. He was well aware of her feelings; he didn't want to make things even worse between them.

"Juvia I –"

"It's okay Gray," Her voice shook a little as she spoke and Gray could see tears forming in her eyes once again. This wasn't how this was supposed to go at all. He had come here to help her, not hurt her feelings. "You don't like me. You've made it very clear." Gray flinched at her words. She clearly wasn't okay with this. "I'll make sure no one bothers you about this anymore

"But I –"

"Thanks for stopping by Gray, I'll be alright now. I've got the girls with me." She attempted a feeble smile and was about to turn around but stopped. "Oh. I don't think I'll be able to go on that mission with you this weekend. I'm sorry; I've got a lot of homework." She added before turning and walking away.

Gray stood speechless in the doorway and he felt a wave of guilt crash over him. He realized what was happening. This was Juvia shutting him out. He had crossed the line.

"I really had faith in you," He was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of Erza's voice. Except her tone wasn't angry anymore, it was… sad. He looked up and her expression matched her tone. "I knew you needed a little time to figure things out. I figured you'd get over yourself eventually and move forward. But instead you had to go and throw her feelings back in her face."

Gray felt the tight knot in his stomach twist. He felt awful.

"I didn't mean to…" Was all he could manage as he stared miserably at his feet.

"I know you didn't," Cana snapped. "You don't mean any of the crap you say but for some goddamn reason you say it anyway."

"I think you need to stay away from her for a while Gray. Give her some space and time so she can heal," Erza gently pushed him back so that he was no longer in the doorway. "You take your time too," She gave him a meaningful look. "I think you have some healing of your own you need to do as well."

And with that, she took a step back and closed the door, leaving Gray alone in the hallway to ponder what she had just said. He wasn't sure what kind of healing he needed but he knew he'd figure it out and do it if it meant having Juvia as his friend again.

* * *

Lisanna twirled her straw around in her strawberry milkshake as she waited for her sister in the guild hall. School had finished about an hour ago and Mira had said she'd be waiting for her when she got there. Almost forty minutes later, the takeover mage was still nowhere in sight.

"Lisanna?"

She swiveled around in her seat to find Bixlow standing there. "Oh hey Bixlow."

"You waiting for your big sis?"

"You make it sound like I'm ten," Lisanna scrunched up her nose.

Bixlow let out a hearty chortle, "Well you're not too far off are ya?"

Lisanna grimaced and the seith mage seemed to laugh even harder at her reaction. She knew Bixlow was only kidding around but the comment still managed to hit a nerve. It probably wouldn't bug her so much if her other older guild mates weren't constantly saying the same thing to her. Natsu and the others never seemed to get these comments. Perhaps it was just the price she paid being the youngest Strauss sibling.

"I'm gonna be eighteen in a few months y'know…" She grumbled, finishing off the last of her milkshake.

"That's true," Bixlow conceded, sitting across from her at the table. "You guys are in your last year at the academy now aren't you? Time sure flies."

She nodded, pushing her glass away as Kinana walked over to their table.

"Hey you guys," She greeted, picking up the empty glass. "It's not every day I see you two hanging out. What's the occasion?"

"We both got stood up," Bixlow grinned as he removed his hood and visor. "So little Strauss here is my new date."

Lisanna snorted, "So that means you and Laxus were supposed to be on a date?"

Bixlow shrugged, "Don't tell Freed." He shot her a salacious grin and a wink before turning to Kinana to order food.

Lisanna rolled her eyes at the joke but couldn't control her cheeks heating up simultaneously. She tried to cover them with her hands as she watched Bixlow order his food. She had almost forgotten how attractive he was when he didn't have all that headgear on. Mira had mentioned the other day that he was surprisingly popular with the ladies and it made a lot more sense now. He was confident, carefree and despite the odd face tattoo, pretty good looking.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low chuckle, "See something you like Lisanna?"

If her cheeks were pink before, her whole face had to be bright red now. She scowled at the seith mage and shrunk back in her seat a bit, "N-no… it's just weird seeing you without that visor…"

Bixlow's grin loosened a bit as he looked at her thoughtfully, "Yeah, it definitely doesn't come off much does it? Maybe I'll take it off more for you," He winked, grinning widely when she stuck her tongue out at him in response.

She turned to Kinana, who stood there watching the exchange between the two mages with a small smirk on her face, "Can I get a lemonade and a slice of strawberry cake please?"

"A lemonade I can do, but I'm afraid Erza already snatched up the last slice of strawberry cake at lunch today," Kinana smiled apologetically.

"Of course she did," Lisanna grumbled, ignoring the look of amusement on Bixlow's face.

"Anything else I can get you?" Kinana offered.

"Nah, I'll just steal Bixlow's fries," Lisanna smiled. "Thanks!"

"No problem, I'll be right back with your drinks!"

As the barmaid walked off, Bixlow turned to her with a sly grin, "First date and we're already sharing food?"

"Guess so," Lisanna shrugged with a grin of her own.

While she knew the whole "first date" thing was just a joke, she couldn't help thinking she wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't. Bixlow was turning out to be much better company than she'd thought.

* * *

"Can I go home? This is boring."

Mira shushed the lightning dragon slayer before pulling out her communication lacrima.

Laxus raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing now?"

Mira smirked at him but didn't answer as it began to make a call. After a couple of rings, Kinana's face appeared.

"Kinana!" She raised the device to eye level. "How's the lucky couple doing?"

She ignored Laxus's sneer from behind her as Kinana giggled, "Pretty well actually, they've been sitting there for about an hour now. There's been some flirting and he's even sharing his fries with her."

Mira whipped her head around to face the blonde mage, "You hear that Laxus? It's going well!"

Laxus scoffed, "That's nothing to get excited about Mirajane. I'm pretty sure Bixlow flirts with everyone. Hell, he even flirts with Freed sometimes just to get a rise out of him."

Mira smiled sweetly at the dragon slayer, "You're far too cynical Laxus. Maybe I should set you up with someone next?"

Laxus blanched as Kinana giggled, "I've got customers to serve so I better go. Good luck you two!"

As the lacrima went blank, Laxus scowled, "Don't you dare set me up with anyone. I have absolutely no interest in settling down with anyone ever."

"Ever?" Mira looked surprised. "Won't you get lonely?"

"I've got Fairy Tail don't I?"

"I suppose that's true," Mira nodded, still looking unconvinced. "But wouldn't you want your own mini-Laxus to keep you company?"

"Hell no," He grimaced. "I was an asshole growing up; our guild doesn't need another Dreyar running around."

Mira giggled, "I was no picnic either don't forget. But I think we both turned out pretty well all things considered."

Laxus couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of Mira in her pre-teen stage, "You were a handful alright. You definitely lived up to your demon reputation."

"Very true, but I'm glad it's all behind me now," She smiled. "It's a lot of work playing the part of the rebellious teenager."

"And even more work controlling one. Exactly why I wouldn't want one."

"Maybe," Mira conceded. "But I don't think your future child would turn out that way Laxus. After all, you weren't always that way if I remember correctly. Sure, you let your father manipulate and influence you but in the end you chose the right path and worked to better yourself. I think that says more about you than any of your past misdeeds."

The dragon slayer frowned, "You're too kind to me Mira. I really don't deserve it."

"Sure you do Laxus," The takeover mage smiled. "Everyone deserves kindness and love. And you're going to meet someone special someday who'll show you that."

Laxus looked down at his guild mate in wonder. Mira had had one of the biggest transformations of them all. She was no longer the angry girl who fought Erza all the time or the girl who almost lost her sister. Despite her tough childhood, she had grown into a strong, intelligent and kind young woman who cared deeply for every single member of their guild. He couldn't imagine Fairy Tail without her.

 _You're going to meet someone special someday who'll show you that._

He smiled as her words repeated once more in his head and an unexpected thought popped up out of nowhere, surprising him.

 _I think I already have._

* * *

Juvia had spent the last few days successfully avoiding Gray. She thought she'd be happier about this, considering everything she'd heard him say outside her apartment that day, but she still couldn't stop herself from missing the ice mage.

She trudged out of the library, keeping her head down as she walked back towards her dorm. A minute later, she smacked her head on something hard and fell backwards as books fell all around her and she heard a familiar voice cursing. She rubbed her head before looking up and found herself looking into the eyes of one of her former Phantom Lord guild mates. He stared back at her, looking just as surprised as she felt.

"Juvia… Juvia Lockser?"

"Totomaru," She stared at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been a teacher here for about a year now. I teach the younger kids basic fire magic." He shrugged, gathering the textbooks that had scattered across the pavement. "I'd ask you the same but I think I already know the answer." He said, nodding towards her uniform.

"Yes, Juvia is a student," She said, rising slowly. "Aren't you a bit young to be a teacher?"

"I'm nineteen, so I'm legally an adult. Plus, I'm mainly working with 12-14 year old mages so there's a bigger age gap there."

"Makes sense," She nodded, then frowned. "Don't take this the wrong way but I'm surprised they hired you here."

He laughed, "Yes I can see how that would be surprising. But you and Gajeel weren't the only ones from Phantom Lord offered a second chance."

She smiled, "No I suppose not. I'm glad you took that second chance."

"Me too," He smiled back. "Speaking of second chances actually…" He trailed off shifting the books awkwardly in his arms.

"Yes?"

"Well… I mean we weren't exactly friends before but…" Juvia was quite surprised to see the formerly cocky fire mage looking incredibly nervous. It was almost endearing. "It would be nice to have some more friends around here and it would be nice to catch up…" He trailed off again looking a little lost this time.

Juvia decided to help him out, "Sure Totomaru, how about we grab dinner tonight? There's a bistro in town that opened recently and it's my favourite." She couldn't help but giggle at the sigh of relief he let out.

"Sounds good Juvia, is 6 o'clock okay?"

"Sounds great, see you then!" Juvia waved as she continued back to her dorm with a smile on her face she didn't have before. It was nice to see another ex-Phantom Lord member walking the path of redemption. She also now had an excuse to not eat dinner in the dining hall with the others.

And maybe, just for this evening, she could finally get her mind off the ice mage that had her heart.

* * *

"I can't believe Ultear. She makes a big fuss about getting us all together for a meal and she can't even show up on time." Lyon grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest as he sat back in his seat.

"She and Meredy probably just took a while to get ready, you know how girls are," Gray said, taking a sip of his water.

"Meredy's joining us?"

Gray looked at the ice mage suspiciously, "Yeah she is, why do you sound so happy about it?"

Lyon cleared his throat, "I don't, it's just… well she's nice to have around."

"Since when?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the silver haired boy. "All she does is tease you about your crush on Juvia and bug me about asking her out."

"She means well," Lyon muttered defensively, staring down at his water.

"Oh god, I think I know what's going on inside that spiky head of yours," Gray groaned, rubbing his temples. "Don't even think about it Lyon. She's not interested."

"You don't know that."

Gray let out an exasperated sigh, "What about Juvia? You're just giving up and moving on?"

"Are you saying I should continue to pursue her?" Lyon asked with a sly grin.

"Definitely not," Gray growled.

"Juvia will always hold a special place in my heart, but I know when I'm not wanted."

"Clearly you don't or you wouldn't be cooking up some plan in your head to woo Meredy," Gray muttered.

"Who says I'm doing that?" Lyon took a sip of water. "I'm simply interested in getting to know her better."

"Ultear's gonna kill you."

"Who am I going to kill?"

The two boys froze and turned to see the source of the voice, Ultear, standing there with Meredy by her side. The older woman wore a tight, knee length strapless purple dress while her pink haired companion wore a short black dress with spaghetti straps that flared out at her hips and reached mid-thigh.

"Well you ladies look lovely tonight."

"Don't change the subject Lyon," Ultear shot him a deadly look and the ice mage cowered under it.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Gray sighed. "Take a seat, we don't need to cause a scene and get kicked out before we even get our food."

Thankfully, Meredy answered before the time mage could, "I agree, I'm hungry."

As the girls sat down Ultear spoke up again, "So Gray, I heard you screwed things up with Juvia yet again. Why on earth would you tell her you don't like her when you very obviously do?"

Gray groaned loudly, "You've been here what, like 30 seconds and you're already bringing Juvia up?"

She ignored him, "What does that Jenny girl have that Juvia doesn't?"

 _Jenny?_ Suddenly Gray was very lost. How was Jenny involved in any of this?

"What does Jenny have to do with any of this?" He drew his eyebrows together.

"You're kidding right?" Meredy cocked an eyebrow at him. "Juvia said she saw you two all over each other outside the English classroom."

Jenny… English classroom… Juvia running away…

Suddenly it clicked and Gray finally understood what had started this whole big mess in the first place. He hadn't been all over her though and in Jenny's defense she hadn't exactly been all over him either; she had just been doing her usual Jenny thing she does when she speaks to anyone of the opposite sex.

"What, you mean her touching my arm?" Gray placed the menu he was holding back on the table. "She's always touchy feely like that when she talks to boys. She doesn't just do that with me; she does it to Lyon and even Natsu."

"Really, even Lyon?" Meredy smirked at the silver haired mage.

"Don't say it like it's some sort of impossible feat," He snapped at her.

She snickered at his reaction before turning back to Gray, "She also said you were smiling at her and seemed very interested in what she was saying," She frowned at him. " _Too_ interested," She added with a raised brow.

Gray rolled his eyes, "She was just telling me a funny story about something Ichiya did the other day. I was smiling and laughing because it was funny. Am I not allowed to laugh at funny stories if pretty girls are telling them?"

"So you admit she's pretty."

Gray was pretty sure the amount of eye rolling he'd been doing so far this evening had to be a new record. "Yes Meredy, she's pretty. But so are you and Ultear; doesn't mean I wanna date either of you."

"Aw Gray, that was almost a compliment," Ultear grinned as she scanned the menu.

He rolled his eyes yet again, before a flash of blue caught his eye.

He scanned the tables to his left and found Juvia sitting at a small table for two at the far end of the restaurant with a boy who looked around their age. He had black and white hair tied up in a ponytail and a strange face tattoo.

 _Wait a second…_

"I know that guy… didn't he fight Natsu a few years back?" Gray muttered to himself, unaware of his friends' eyes following his gaze.

"Is that Juvia with another man?" Lyon asked incredulously, rising from his seat before Meredy shoved him back down.

"Hush Lyon, don't make a scene," She scolded before turning back to the couple. "I almost forgot she was meeting up with Totomaru tonight…"

"Is this the same Totomaru that used to be part of the Element Four in Phantom Lord?" Ultear asked, regarding the man with interest. "He's quite a powerful fire wizard."

Gray scoffed, "He's not that great. Natsu made pretty quick work of him when they fought."

"I think _someone_ is jealous." Meredy said, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

"I'm not jealous, I'm simply saying he's not as powerful as Natsu," Gray shot back.

"Wow, you must be _really_ jealous if you're ranking Natsu, your rival, favourably against that guy," Ultear smirked.

His friends chuckled as Gray grumbled under his breath. He looked over at where Juvia and Totomaru sat on the other side of the restaurant. He wasn't jealous, yet he had the overwhelming urge to go over there and freeze the guy sitting across from her.

"It's funny how you managed to screw up so bad you actually sent the girl you like immediately into the arms of another man," Lyon mused. "If there was an award for being bad with women, you'd get first place, no contest."

"Oh shut up," Gray snapped, slamming his menu down on the table. "Everything is fine. Once Juvia cools off, things will go back to normal."

"Gray, she's quite serious," Meredy looked at him with a troubled expression. "Seeing you with Jenny and hearing you reject her like that really hurt her."

"Can't you at least explain the Jenny thing to her?" Gray asked irritably.

"This is your problem to fix Gray, not Meredy's," Ultear admonished. "You have to talk to Juvia eventually and apologize. While you're at it, you can explain yourself."

Gray sighed. He really hated dealing with girls and their feelings, but he also knew all of this was his fault. Ultear was right, he couldn't avoid her forever. He had to – in Elfman's words – man up and apologize.

Their server came over and took their order. As he left, Gray looked up again to see Juvia laughing at whatever the fire mage had just said. He felt anger bubble up inside of him. There was something about this guy and his ability to make Juvia laugh that really pissed him off.

"Could you be more jealous?" Meredy rolled her eyes. "If looks could kill, that guy would've been a goner the moment you laid eyes on him."

"There's something about him I just don't like," Gray said, keeping his eyes on the couple across the room.

"Hmm, could it perhaps be his good looks?" Meredy offered.

"Or his ability to make her laugh?" Ultear chimed in.

"Maybe it's just the fact that Juvia would rather be spending time with him than you right now?" Lyon grinned, watching Gray's face twist into a grimace.

He felt himself slowly rising and he heard the others gasp.

"Gray, you are _not_ going over there," Meredy attempted to grab his arm but he pulled it out of her reach.

"Calm down, I'm just going to the bathroom," He said, but his eyes remained focused on the water mage and her date.

"Well you're just gonna have to hold it because their table is right next to where the washrooms are," Ultear said sternly.

Gray was barely paying them any attention. He took a step forward. "I'll be right back guys."

"Oh no you don't," Lyon got up and stepped in front of him. "Sit back down. You're not going anywhere."

Gray took his eyes off the couple to glare at Lyon. "Make me."

Lyon attempted to guide Gray back to the seat but Gray shoved him back hard.

"Oh god," Meredy hid her face in her hands. "This isn't gonna end well."

* * *

Three years ago, if someone had told Juvia she'd be sitting in a nice restaurant having dinner and pleasant conversation with Totomaru of the Element Four, she would've laughed in their face. Despite being guild mates at one point, they had barely spoken a word to one another; choosing only to interact when it was necessary.

Now here they were, laughing and swapping stories like old friends. It was totally bizarre but also kind of nice. It turns out he was pretty fun to hang out with. An added bonus was that he had managed to keep her mind off of –

"WHAT THE HELL GRAY?"

Juvia cringed. _Oh god, now I'm starting to hear his name wherever I go?_

"JUST LET ME GO ALREADY."

 _Great, now I'm hearing his voice. This is not healthy._

She heard Totomaru chuckle and looked up to see him looking across the restaurant, "Man, those guys sure are going at it. Are they for real or is ice magic this evening's entertainment?"

Juvia froze. _Ice magic?  
_  
She turned slowly, praying it wasn't who she thought it was.

"Oh my god," A woman at the table next to hers cried out. "That boy is taking off his shirt."

It looks like Juvia's prayers were going unanswered. As she swiveled around in her seat, she saw the boy she had been trying so hard to stay away from these past few days shooting ice balls at Lyon who was blocking them with an ice shield. Behind them, Ultear and Meredy were slumped down in their seats, looking like they wanted to be anywhere but in this restaurant.

Juvia growled and stood up in her seat. She wasn't going to let those two ruin everyone's dinner.

"Where are you going," Totomaru asked, glancing between her and the ice mages. "Do you know them?"

"Unfortunately I do," Juvia said, marching across the restaurant.

* * *

"You are taking this too far Gray, sit back down before you get us kicked out!" Lyon shouted from behind his shield.

"You started this by not letting me go to the bathroom!" Gray shouted back.

Lyon rolled his eyes, "For god's sake, go then," He blocked another hit. "I don't care about your pathetic love life anymore, I just want to eat."

"Maybe I wi –"

"WATER LOCK."

Suddenly, Gray was floating in a sphere of water.

He held his breath, looking wildly around the room. Lyon was also trapped in his own water bubble and people around the restaurant were either fleeing or watching the scene in shock. He looked down and saw a _very_ angry Juvia holding her hands up. When their eyes met, hers narrowed. She seemed to think for a moment before releasing the two boys from their confinement.

They fell to the ground, coughing up water and gasping for air.

A man approached them, "I'm the manager of this establishment. I'm sorry gentlemen but I'm going to have to ask you two to leave." He then turned to Juvia, "I'm sorry miss but this includes you as well."

"Fine," He heard Juvia huff. She turned to the man she'd been with, who had come up behind her after she broke off her spell. "Juvia is sorry Totomaru but I'm afraid this evening has to come to an end. I have to deal with these two."

The man chuckled, "That's okay Juvia, I had fun while it lasted. Let's do this again sometime?"

She smiled up at him, "Of course."

"See you later," He gave her a quick hug and Gray stared daggers at the back of his head as he exited the restaurant.

* * *

After leaving the restaurant, Meredy and Ultear had dragged Lyon away, leaving Gray and Juvia to walk back to the academy alone.

Both remained silent as they walked. Juvia was fighting a mixture of emotions swelling up inside of her. Part of her was angry at Gray for ruining her evening, another part of her wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the whole situation really was, a third part was sad he hadn't spoken a word to her since their encounter and the last part – which was unfortunately the largest part – just wanted to kiss the crap out of him and forgive him for his misdeeds.

As she mulled over what to do, her thoughts were interrupted by none other than Gray himself.

"Juvia I'm so sorry…" He said it so quietly she almost missed it. She peeked up through her hair at him and saw that he actually looked pretty upset. She had no idea what to say back. Somehow that apology just wasn't enough for her. The girls had told her not to go easy on Gray this time.

Thankfully he didn't seem to need a response as he continued, "I never meant to throw your feelings back in your face like that. I just- Cana pisses me off so much sometimes and I say stuff I don't mean…"

 _Stuff he doesn't mean?_ Juvia shook her head to clear her thoughts. He was just trying to apologize; she didn't need to start filling her head with fantasies and ideas all over again.

"When I came over to your place that day, I was there to try to cheer you up. I had seen you run away looking upset and I was really worried. I wanted to help…" He stopped walking and stared at his feet. "Of course leave it to me to do the opposite and upset you even more. I didn't even get to explain that whole Jenny situation."

That got Juvia's attention, "Explain it now then."

Gray shrugged and continued walking, "She was just telling me a funny story about Ichiya. He tried to hit on Kagura from Mermaid Heel and got the crap kicked out of him." Juvia couldn't help the giggle that forced its way out of her mouth. Any Ichiya related story was generally pretty funny but stories involving him trying to hit on Erza or Kagura were hilarious.

Gray noticed her giggling and grinned that signature grin of his that always made her heart beat faster.

She cleared her throat and attempted to pull herself together, "But she was all over you…"

"She's like that with every guy she talks to; Lyon, Natsu… even Gajeel sometimes," Gray chuckled at the memory of when Jenny last hit on Gajeel. "Though she gave up on him pretty quickly."

"Yeah I guess you're right," Juvia said. She knew what Jenny was like. She pursued just about anyone of the opposite sex. "I'm sorry; I'm not even your girlfriend. I had no right to react the way I did. I just can't help how I feel and she's so beautiful –"

" _Don't_ apologize," Gray cut her off, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her with a frown. They were in the courtyard between the two dormitories now. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You had _every_ right to react that way actually. You're my friend and your feelings are valid. And sure, Jenny's pretty but she can't hold a candle to you. You're– oh god, why are you crying?" Gray began to panic as he noticed the teary water mage. "I'm- oh god- crap, I'm so sorry Juvia. I'm the worst."

He had no idea. This evening would've been perfect if he had said everything he just said and happened to feel the same way she did. But he didn't.

He wasn't the worst… that was the problem. Maybe if he had never apologized or said all those nice things he could be the worst. Maybe if he hadn't treated her like everyone else, even after finding out she'd been a part of Phantom Lord, he could be the worst. Maybe if he hadn't saved her life when they first met, he could be the worst. Maybe if he hadn't shown her the warmth of the sun for the first time, he could be the worst.

"N-no, you're not the worst, you're the _best_ ," She sobbed. "That's why this is so damn hard."

Her tears were blurring her vision so she could barely make out the scowl that appeared on Gray's face.

"Are you kidding me Juvia? I am _not_ the best." He paused for a moment before grabbing her and pulling her into his arms. He buried his nose in her hair as he spoke, "Do you seriously not see how perfect you are?" She felt a sudden warmth flood her body at the compliment. "Why the hell do you want someone like me? You could have any guy you want. You're smart, talented and beautiful. Not to mention one of the kindest people I know. You're amazing…"

When she felt his breath by her ear, she knew she was a goner. All those emotions she'd felt earlier were gone and overshadowed by the most powerful one; Love.

That was all she felt in this moment. Her knees were weak, her heart was pounding and her head felt just a little bit foggy. It was like she was drunk on the emotion alone.

Her tears had stopped so she pulled back to wipe her eyes and look up into Gray's dark ones. When their eyes met she felt that familiar jolt of electricity throughout her body. Her gaze moved slowly towards his lips which were slightly parted. There were currently two voices inside her brain battling it out; one was the voice of reason telling her to step away from the boy who didn't return her feelings and the other was the voice of lust which was telling her to screw reason and kiss the boy in front of her.

Juvia glanced up at his gaze which was still fixed on hers. When her gaze moved down towards his mouth once again, he licked his lips. Suddenly, the voice of reason was gone and before her brain could even process what was happening she had grabbed the front of his shirt and raised herself up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips against his surprisingly warm ones.

They stayed like that for about a minute before Gray let out a low groan and parted his lips slightly. The noise snapped the water mage back to reality and she pulled away quickly, realizing what she'd just done.

She looked up at Gray, who seemed rather stunned with his lips still parted slightly and a dusting of pink across his cheeks. What had she done? What if he refused to speak to her ever again? She was supposed to be angry with him right now. She had told Erza and the other girls that she wouldn't let him off the hook easily. She wasn't supposed to forgive him. Had she forgiven him though? He had said all those nice things and next thing she knew she was sobbing into his chest. His warm, well-defined chest…

She shook the thought from her head quickly and looked up at the ice mage again. He still had the same stunned expression on his face. She was supposed to be using this alone time to make Gray grovel and beg for forgiveness. Instead, _she_ had somehow ended up apologizing and then kissed him. She certainly had a knack for allowing her emotions to cloud her judgement. Now this was most certainly going to blow up in her face.

"I'm so sorry Gray," She put her hands over her mouth. "Juvia didn't mean to- I don't know what I was thinking. It won't ever happen again. I'm so sorry, Juvia shouldn't have done that. I-"

Juvia didn't even allow herself to finish her apology or meet his gaze. She turned and ran as fast as she could towards the girls' dormitory without looking back.

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe.**

 **But in all seriousness... before anyone freaks out, I'll have you know, Juvia will not be the one suffering in the chapters to come. It's time for Gray to come to terms with his feelings ;)**

 **Also, sorry for the lack of NaLu and other couples. Gruvia kinda dominated this chapter. There will be lots of NaLu next time though along with the other couples. I also want to bring Lucy's celestial spirits into the story more. If there's a certain one you want to see, leave a comment.**

 **I'm not going to respond to reviews because I really don't have time. I had to stay up late just to finish this and adding in all this extra stuff is actually surprisingly time consuming :(**

 **I'll just say this though, since I noticed a misunderstanding from a guest in the comments section. I am not blaming Juvia for how she reacted. Of course I made her do that, I'm the author of this fic after all haha. I honestly don't believe that Juvia would ever approach the situation like that (seeing it happen and calmly walking away) in the canon version or in this version. Getting upset over little things like that is quite common when you like someone. Gray had his jealous moments (and will have them), I felt it was a good idea to give one to Juvia as well. It's actually quite interesting how people act when their in love. At the moment, Juvia getting upset is how the story is planned. But it won't stay that way.**

 **My characters will make mistakes. They'll get upset over little things (or even things that seem little to us but are much more significant to them). They'll say the wrong thing from time to time. But they learn from it and that's the fun of writing.**

 **Again, don't forget to leave a review. They inspire me to write faster ;) (seriously)**


	10. Frustration

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back. Apologies for the delay in updating. If you read my other Gruvia fic (A Tale of Two Kingdoms) then you know why.**

 **I'm not gonna bother with a super long authors note or explanation. Since I didn't have much time to work on this fic (due to the incident with the other fic) this is just a short filler chapter, to kinda set you up for next chapters events.**

* * *

It was a couple of weeks before Juvia returned to classes again. She couldn't help but thank whatever god was up there for giving her the flu right after kissing Gray. It saved her having to face him and talk about what happened.

After about a week of wallowing in despair alone, she had finally decided to tell the other girls about the kiss. As expected, they weren't exactly thrilled. They weren't as angry as she had expected them to be either though.

"HA!" Cana had cheered, spilling some of her beer on the floor as she raised her mug. "Let's see Ice boy try to deny his feelings now."

"Oh Juvia… you missed such a great opportunity to make him grovel!" Levy had whined.

"I agree," Erza frowned. "You gave in much too quickly."

"Well he did apologize… and he seemed really sincere…" She had protested weakly.

The girls had sighed, returning to their homework assignments.

Juvia took a deep breath as she exited the apartment for the first time in two weeks. While she was thrilled to no longer be sick, she wasn't sure she could handle seeing Gray just yet.

Erza had the same class first period so they walked together.

"Try not to worry too much about Gray, okay?"

Juvia peeked up at the requip mage who was smiling gently at her.

"I– I know, I'm trying…" She muttered.

"Things will work out Juvia, have faith."

"Easy for you to say, you've got Jellal," Juvia couldn't help but pout.

Erza snorted, "Perhaps, but surely you remember there was _nothing_ easy about that whole situation."

Juvia nodded sheepishly. Of course Erza would understand. She had spent _years_ pining over her childhood best friend and when he had finally heard her confession – which had been a complete accident – there was a misunderstanding followed by a month of heartache and confusion.

"Gray's not a bad guy you know," Erza said softly, fiddling with the hem of her skirt as they walked. "He can be incredibly stubborn, dense and _incompetent as hell_ in the romance department, but once you jump those three hurdles, you're left with a guy who's kind, fun to have around and incredibly loyal."

"I know," Juvia smiled. "If he truly was a terrible guy, none of this would be as hard as it is."

"Yes," Erza nodded. "That's what made everything so difficult with Jellal as well."

"What do you think I should do?"

"I think you need to stop asking other people that question and ask yourself instead," Erza eyed her friend. "Stop worrying about what Gray wants and how he feels, because I know you do," the redhead shot her a _don't-bother-denying-it_ look when the water mage opened her mouth to protest. "Gray's a big boy. He'll be fine. But he needs more time than others when it comes to matters of the heart."

"Yes, I suppose you're right…" Juvia muttered, looking away.

"Before you came here and met Gray, what did you desire more than anything?" Erza asked.

"Friends," The water mage answered easily. But then she paused, remembering another problem she had once had before joining the academy. "…and Juvia wanted the rain to go away."

"And Gray was the one to do that right?"

"Yes… though he played a large part in it, Juvia thinks having you girls around really helped as well," Juvia admitted with a smile.

"You do?" The requip mage looked a little surprised.

"Yes," The blunette's smile widened. "It's true. And I've been so caught up in my feelings for Gray; I sometimes forget what great friends I have. But that's going to change. Instead of worrying about his mixed signals and my unrequited feelings, I'm going to focus on my friends and things I like to do."

"And what do you like to do?"

"I like knitting, cooking, swimming, baking…" The water mage trailed off, thinking for a moment. "I'd also like to give reading a try, like Lucy and Levy. Same with ice skating!"

"That's great Juvia! And winter is just around the corner so I'm sure ice skating can be arranged," The redhead winked.

Juvia beamed, feeling truly happy for the first time in a few weeks. She didn't need Gray or some boy to replace his spot in her heart. She just needed her friends – because they already held a special place of their own in her heart –and herself because at the end of the day that was who she truly needed to depend on.

She wouldn't push Gray out, because despite everything he was her friend as well, but she needed to take a step back and do a serious self-evaluation.

If – once she'd figured out how to make herself happy – he was still there, then they would figure out where they stood.

For now, she had some recipes in mind she'd like to try out on her lovely roommates.

* * *

"LAXUS FIGHT ME!"

Several groans sounded throughout the guildhall. Lucy's among them. Natsu had been on a wild rampage all morning, getting kicked out of nearly every one of his classes, and he didn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

"Fuck off, Salamander," The lightning mage snapped before turning back to his beer.

"Oooo language," Cana smirked, wiping down the bar in front of her. Occasionally, the card mage would help Mira out with bartending when Kinana wanted a day off. It was risky giving Fairy Tail's resident alcoholic access to the alcohol but she actually managed to keep away from her keg and focus on her job so long as she got a sip or two every hour. "What's got your panties in a bunch Laxus?"

"Mira's trying to set him up with some chick from Mermaid Heel," Bixlow chuckled, planting himself on the empty seat beside Laxus at the bar.

"Shut up will ya? I don't need the whole guild knowing about it," Laxus grumbled. "Not like I plan to go on the date anyway…"

"Why not? You need to get laid grumpypants." Cana winked, sending Bixlow into a fit of laughter.

Lucy heard Laxus mutter something along the lines of "bite me" before turning away from the conversation to look for a certain fire dragon slayer.

It didn't take long to locate her friend when she heard a cry of, "FIGHT ME ERZA!" and a loud crash almost immediately after.

Erza was sitting at a table on the far left with Jellal, calmly eating her strawberry cake as though nothing had happened while Natsu lay in a crumpled heap beside her.

"Natsu," Lucy chided the pink haired boy as she attempted to lift him up. "What has gotten into you?!"

"He clearly has some pent up frustration he needs to let out," Jellal said, giving the other boy a sympathetic look.

"Y-yeah…" Natsu's voice came out hoarse and broken. "J-J-Jellal… f-fight… me…"

"Lay a finger on my boyfriend and I'll make sure those are the last words you ever speak," Erza's voice sent a chill up Lucy's spine and she felt Natsu shudder beside her.

Jellal simply patted his girlfriend's hand and chuckled. "Clearly we need to invest in a punching bag for our apartment. We've got too many wound up mages in one small space."

"No kidding," Erza grimaced. "If Natsu takes a page out of Gray's book, you guys won't have any walls left."

Natsu shifted around in Lucy's grasp and she noticed he seemed to have recovered now.

"Natsu what is wrong with you?" Lucy grabbed the boy by the shoulders and made him face her. He avoided eye contact, opting to look past her to her right.

Before she could ask again, she heard footsteps and Gray and Gajeel's voices greeting them.

"Oi, Ice princess, fight me!" Natsu challenged the approaching ice mage.

"For god's sake, use your words for once in your life!" Erza snapped.

"I did," Natsu blinked. "I said ' _fight me'_."

The others sweat dropped while Erza looked just about ready to kill the fire dragon slayer.

"Water," Natsu said suddenly, and he stumbled out of Lucy's grip towards the bar.

"What's with Salamander," Gajeel asked. "He's even more annoying than usual today."

"No kidding," Gray agreed. "He tried to fight Gramps this morning."

The girls gasped while Gajeel muttered "idiot" under his breath.

"When did he start acting like this?" Erza asked.

"This morning I guess," Jellal said, looking at the other boys who nodded their agreement. "He wouldn't get out of bed and then when we finally dragged him out of his room he got all weird."

"Hmm," Erza tapped a finger to her chin. "I wonder if this has anything to do with him seeing Lucy naked last night?"

Their corner of the guildhall went dead silent as all eyes turned to the celestial mage who was now blushing furiously.

"W-why would it?!" Lucy stammered.

"Can I just ask _why_ you let Natsu see you naked?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"I DIDN'T _LET_ HIM SEE ANYTHING IDIOT. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT." Lucy screeched. Her hands automatically flew up to cover her chest despite being fully clothed.

"He snuck into her room last night and caught her getting dressed after her bath," Erza said, like it was a normal occurrence. Which, Lucy had to admit; it kind of was with Natsu; minus the nudity.

Suddenly Gray, Gajeel and Jellal burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Erza frowned. "Explain yourselves at once."

"Th-tha-that idiot…" Gray barely managed to get out as he fell to the ground in hysterics.

Erza and Lucy exchanged puzzled looks as the boys continued to laugh.

"Salamander's gonna be just fine," Gajeel finally stood up. The other two boys joined him shortly after.

"Flame Brain is just sexually frustrated and doesn't know how to deal with it," Gray added with a smirk.

"Dunno why you're smirking stripper, you're no better than he is," Gajeel snickered at the ice mage.

"He's got a point. You're both rather destructive when it comes to women," Jellal grinned, getting back in his seat.

Gray's face flamed up at the remark, "Oi, that wasn't sexual frustration; that was Lyon pissing me off."

"Gihihi, whatever you say."

"Interesting," Erza eyed the celestial mage. "I didn't think Natsu was affected by that kind of stuff."

"H-he's n-not… I just… I–"

"Ha," Gajeel interrupted the stuttering blonde. "Maybe he finally hit puberty."

"Took him long enough," Gray muttered.

Before Lucy could interject, Natsu came back over looking a little dazed with another bump of his head – probably from Laxus – and a glass of water in his hand.

"Still looking for a fight Salamander?" Gajeel snickered.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu chugged the glass before setting it down on the table. "I'm all fired up n–"

"NO WAY," Lucy grabbed the boy by the scarf and began dragging him towards the door. "You and I need to talk mister. Let's go!"

The others laughed as an irritable Lucy dragged the fire dragon slayer out of the guildhall.

"50 jewel says those two hook up," Gajeel grinned.

"Oh yeah? You're on." Gray shook his hand.

"100 jewel says they're official by the end of the school year," Jellal added.

"Interesting," The two boys shook hands with him.

"Jellal," Erza groaned.

The meteor mage shrugged, "Hey, this could be fun."

Erza simply rolled her eyes, "Boys…"

* * *

Lucy closed her bedroom door and turned to face the pink haired mage standing awkwardly by the bed.

"Natsu we're friends right?"

His eyes widened a bit at the question. "Of course Luce."

"And friends tell each other the truth right?"

"Right…"

"So why are you acting so weird about what happened last night?" She couldn't help the warmth spreading across her face as she spoke. "It's not like it's the first time something like that has happened – _which_ by the way we need to talk about – so why this time?"

For probably the first time ever, Lucy witnessed Natsu blush.

"I dunno, it was weird."

"Weird?" Lucy couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It wasn't quite the answer she'd hoped for.

"Yeah, I guess… I mean it's usually just you sitting in the bathtub or in your underwear or whatever so this time was kinda different.

"I mean your outfits don't leave much to the imagination anyway –" "HEY!" "–but it was weird to see that much of you…"

"HE LIIIIKES YOU…" A voice sang from the corner of the bed, startling the two mages.

"HAPPY?" Lucy shrieked at the same time Natsu yelled, "I DO NOT."

"Gee Natsu, I thought you'd be all over the idea of naked Lucy," The blue cat snickered, dodging a stuffed dog the dragon slayer chucked at him.

The blonde girl turned beet red while Natsu glared at his feline friend, "Oi, I didn't want to see any of that okay? It's not my fault she's always taking her clothes off!"

"HEY! IT'S CALLED _GETTING DRESSED_!" Lucy glared at the pink haired boy. "I CAN'T HELP IT IF YOU SHOW UP UNINVITED EVERYTIME IT HAPPENS!"

"Your timing is pretty impeccable Natsu," Happy shot his partner a suggestive grin.

"You know what, the cat is right," Lucy crossed her arms, still glaring at Natsu. "Maybe you're just a big pervert after all!"

"Says the girl who dresses like one!"

"ME?! You don't even wear a proper shirt, you wear a freaking vest!"

"Only a pervert would notice that."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

Happy flew up in the air between the two mages, "Ah, a lovers quarrel…"

"SHUT UP HAPPY!" They shouted in unison.

"You know what, we're leaving Happy. Let's go." Natsu opened up the window and leapt out without a glance back. The exceed flew after him shouting back, "Bye pervert Lucy!"

"STUPID CAT!" Lucy yelled before slamming her window closed after the feline.

She let herself fall face first onto her bed and she lay there for a moment thinking over what just happened.

She had just had her first fight with Natsu.

* * *

 **A/N: Not a big dramatic fight or anything, just a silly one, but a fight nonetheless. It kinda helps set up the next chapter.**

 **Yes, I've decided to take Juvia in a different direction. I think the girl could stand to love herself a bit more so she's gonna do just that. For any Totomaru fans out there, don't worry... he's not leaving the picture quite yet...**

 **This is just a filler chapter. I've already started on the next chapter. Which will be longer and much more interesting...**

 **Things to look forward to next chapter include: Gray's POV on the whole kiss situation, Laxus's possible date?, some celestial spirits making an appearance and a couple more FT characters joining the fun**

* * *

 _ **Review Responses:**_

 ** _Guest (Marty Gruvia Fan): I know Gray has been incredibly frustrating for a lot of you guys. Hopefully you can hang in there because he's gonna be doing a lot of self reflecting. Just as Juvia will be doing. The tables are definitely going to turn a bit for that couple since Gray is not yet aware of Juvia's self-love plan and we still have yet to see his POV on the situation. I agree that it's definitely time to see a happier Juvia so I will be giving you that.  
_** _  
 **Kyogan-Saori: I'm so glad you liked it :)**_

 _ **Samiraahmed12: Ahaha it's not actually meant to be but I love them too much and they keep ending up in every chapter lol...**_

 _ **Sarara1.8: Thank you for the support and reviews :)**_

 _ **Shelikescoffee: I'm glad you like the other couples! I know what you mean, Juvia would actually look good with Totomaru too haha I could totally see it. I'm glad you like the whole Gray/Lyon/Meredy/Ultear scenes because I LOVE writing them lol. There will definitely be more of those if I can help it.**_

 _ **Soul Raider 116: Haha I don't wanna spoil stuff so there's not much I can say to this but I like the way you think and you've definitely got the right idea with Bixlow/Lisanna. Thanks for the reviews :)**_

 _ **IamAmazing326: Thank you! And I've been plotting to bring those two in for a while so stay tuned ;) Yes Laxus/Mira are a fave pair of mine!**_

 _ **Panda123love: Thank you :))**_


	11. What Friends Are For (Part 1)

**A/N: I'm back with another chapter. Due to a busy week ahead, this one has been cut in half. This is Part 1... Part 2 will hopefully be up next week but I've learned it's better not to set a date when you don't know for sure what your schedule is going to be like.**

* * *

The next day, Gray found himself at Magnolia's newest restaurant, 8-Island.

"Why do these people always want to go out for lunch?" He grumbled, trudging past the hostess at the podium to find his friends. "I swear we go every damn week."

He spotted Lyon and Meredy at a booth by the window and walked over.

"About time you showed up Gray," Lyon sighed dramatically.

"I'm one minute late you asshole," Gray muttered, sliding into the booth next to Meredy.

"Ignore him," Meredy giggled. "He's just all bummed out because he heard about what happened between you and Juvia."

Gray rolled his eyes. "Where's Ultear?" He asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Something came up with Crime Sorcière and she went to go help," Meredy explained. "She sends her regards and expects me to report back to her with all the juicy details." The sensory link mage wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Gray who scowled back.

"There are no _juicy details_ ," Gray grumbled.

"So Juvia didn't kiss you then?" Lyon raised an eyebrow.

Gray felt his face flame up before he could stop it and the two mages chuckled.

"Well that answers that," Meredy grinned, picking up her menu.

Before Gray could retort, their server came over to take their orders. He ordered the first thing he saw on the menu. He couldn't concentrate on food when that kiss was running through his brain on repeat. That's how it had been for the past couple of weeks. Every time he so much as closed his eyes or let his mind wander, Juvia's deep blue eyes and soft lips were suddenly all he could see.

He had no idea how he was supposed to make it through a dinner with two people who never shut up about her. Why had he agreed to come again?

"Earthland to Gray!" Meredy's small hand entered his field of vision, waving up and down.

He looked up to see their server looking rather impatient, awaiting an answer to a question he hadn't heard.

"Uh…" He stared dumbly at the server, hoping she'd repeat the question.

"Oh for god's sake, do you want fries or a salad with your burger Gray?" Lyon asked irritably. "FRIES OR A SALAD?"

"Wait… I ordered a burger?"

The whole table sweat dropped, including their server.

"Fries, he'll take fries." Meredy said definitively, snapping his menu shut and handing it to their puzzled server. She nodded and walked away with the menus.

"Man, you've got it bad," Lyon snickered.

"I do not…" Gray huffed, crossing his arms.

"Gray you should just tell us the truth about what happened. If you don't tell me, Ultear is just going to chase you down and beat it out of you anyway. Why not take the less violent route?" Meredy urged, batting her eyelashes in an almost comical fashion.

Gray grimaced. As much as he hated to admit it, Meredy was right. If she went back to Ultear with no new information to share, Gray was certain he'd receive a less than pleasant visit from the time mage.

"Just rip the Band-Aid off and say it," Meredy urged gently. "You might even feel better after getting it out in the open."

"We may tease you now and then–" Gray couldn't help interrupting with a snort. "–but we would never tell anyone else. If you want this to stay between the three of us–"

"And Ultear," Meredy chimed in.

Lyon rolled his eyes. "– _and_ Ultear, then it will. We may take immense pleasure in annoying you but we would never betray your trust."

The grimace Gray had been sporting the entire conversation softened at these words. Lyon was right. They fought and teased each other all the time but Lyon was still the closest thing Gray had to a brother. On top of that, Lyon could have ignored Gray's feelings and fought for Juvia but he didn't. He let her go and even tried to help his friend get the girl he had so desperately wanted himself. If Gray was going to talk about this to anyone, it was going to be Lyon.

"Fine," Gray grumbled, rolling his eyes as Meredy shrieked with delight, clapping her hands.

"This stays between us, got it?"

"And Ultear!"

"Yes Meredy," Gray growled irritably. " _And Ultear_. Do you guys understand?"

The two mages nodded.

Gray sighed, "So you know Juvia kissed me. It was pretty easy to deny everything up until that point. All I really had to do was avoid her when I'd start to feel all jittery and confused. It got harder though, the closer we became as friends. At first she was shy and kind of clingy. Then I began discovering these new sides to her…" Gray ran a hand through his hair, avoiding their gazes.

"She's loyal as hell. Not just to me but to her friends and guildmates. She wears her heart on her sleeve, which is something I've never been able to do. Her emotions are her strength. I just…" The ice mage trailed off, not sure how to continue. He could go on and on about Juvia's great qualities but he was pretty sure his two friends already knew them.

"Gray," Meredy placed a gentle hand over his shaking one. He hadn't even noticed it was shaking. "Do you like her?"

He sighed, "Hell yeah I like her," then managed a small smile. "I knew there was something special about her that first day I met her, when I found her wandering alone with a storm cloud looming over her. I mean, there weren't any feelings on my end at that point but she was definitely hard to forget. And after that kiss, it's _really_ hard to forget her."

Meredy removed her hands from his, squealing with joy. "Oh finally!"

"So you'll finally be together now?" Lyon asked, looking relieved.

"Uh no…"

Meredy face palmed while Lyon smacked his head down on the table, the sound startling the people in the booth next to theirs.

"Don't get me wrong, I like Juvia – a lot actually – but I'm still not ready for this," Gray explained, fiddling with his napkin. "I have my own issues that I need to sort out first. I'm still scared of Juvia and committing to a person. I've lost too many people in my life and I haven't let myself heal properly. I can't drag Juvia into all of this. I've already put her through enough."

"I think that's a good idea actually," Meredy smiled. "Relationships always work better when both parties are fairly stable."

"Exactly," Gray nodded. "Juvia deserves someone who isn't gonna flake on her when he gets scared or put her on a rollercoaster of emotions. She needs someone dependable and I'll try my best to sort my shit out and be that guy for her. If she'll still have me…" He added tentatively.

"Oh she'll have you alright," Lyon snorted, earning a smack from Meredy.

"Don't make her sound so easy," She admonished the silver haired mage. "Juvia's got her own plan too y'know."

Gray stopped fiddling with his napkin and looked at Meredy. "She does?"

"Yeah, she's going to try to worry less about her relationship with you and focus more on doing stuff for herself," Meredy explained. "Back in Phantom Lord she was independent and all, being on her own with no family or friends, but she was never truly happy. So she's going to do the things she loves and try to find happiness outside of a romantic interest."

"That's great," Gray smiled. "I think that's exactly what Juvia needs. I'm happy for her."

"I am too," Lyon added with his own grin. "I'm glad you both seem to have a plan."

Their server came back with their food, placing each dish on the table carefully before leaving again.

"Yep," Gray picked up a fry and placed it in his mouth. He was glad Meredy didn't order a salad on his behalf. French fries were a much better side dish. "And what about you guys?"

The two mages shot him puzzled looks.

"What's _your_ plan?" Gray raised an eyebrow suggestively at Lyon, who scowled and went bright red.

Meanwhile, Meredy was still very confused. "Why would we have a plan?"

"Ignore him, he's an idiot," Lyon turned away in an attempt to hide his burning face from the pink haired mage.

Meredy shot him an inquisitive look before shrugging and grabbing her fork.

" _I hate you_ ," Lyon mouthed at Gray and stole one of his fries. Gray laughed. For the first time in a while he felt pretty great. It felt good – no, really good, to no longer deny his feelings and put on an act. And it felt even better knowing he had his friends there for him when he needed them most.

* * *

"Hey sis," Lisanna sat down at a table Mira was cleaning. "How's the day been?"

"Hey Lisanna," Mira greeted her sister with a large smile. "Pretty slow actually. I think a lot of people have been eating over at Yajima's new place."

"Oh you mean 8-Island?"

"Yeah, have you stopped by there yet? It's pretty good!"

"I have actually," Lisanna said slowly before blurting out the rest. "And Yajima offered me a job as a waitress. That's okay right?"

Lisanna felt a little guilty not telling her sister earlier. She wasn't sure how Mira would react. She had been trying to get Lisanna to wait tables at the guild for years and Lisanna had always turned down her offers.

To her relief, Mira didn't look angry at all. In fact, she looked delighted. "Of course it is silly! Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well… I mean… they're our competition and–"

Mira laughed, holding up a hand to stop the other girl. "Oh Lisanna, Yajima is a good friend of our guild. I'm more than happy to see him get some business. Besides, they just opened so of course they're going to be much busier than us."

Lisanna felt her shoulders sag in relief. "Oh, well that's good then."

"So when's your first shift?" Mira asked, lifting a full tray of glasses off the table.

"The day after tomorrow," Lisanna tugged nervously at the hem of her uniform skirt. "It's just a training shift but I'm still a little nervous."

"Would you like me to train you a bit here at the guild before you start?" Mira offered.

"Would you?" Lisanna brightened up at the offer. "That would save me a ton of embarrassment on the first day."

Mira giggled, "Well Yajima probably runs his place a little differently and it's definitely going to be a lot busier, but I can show you how to take orders and carry multiple dishes at once to a table?"

"Thank you so much Mira, that would be great!" The younger Strauss sibling beamed.

"Anything for my favourite sister," Mira winked. "Follow me and let's get to work!"

* * *

Lucy sat on the kitchen counter, licking the leftover chocolate frosting off the spatula Juvia had been using.

"Juuuuvia, this is sooo good," She moaned. "You should do this self-love stuff more often if it means more of your delicious baking."

The water mage giggled, "Thanks Lucy, I'm glad you like it!"

"No fair, I want some!" Levy poked her head in the doorway, pouting.

Juvia picked up a spoon full of chocolate frosting, "Will this do?"

Levy's eyes lit up as she grabbed the spoon and stuffed it in her mouth.

The other girls giggled as she got chocolate all over her face.

"I'm surprised Erza hasn't come running yet," Lucy giggled as she licked the last of the frosting off the spatula and placed it in the sink.

"Jellal took her out on a date," Juvia took the chocolate cake off the cooling rack and placed it in front of her. "He was scared Erza might try to help Juvia with the baking." The water mage chuckled.

A flashback of Erza cracking half an eggshell into the cake batter for Wendy's party crept into Lucy's head and she let out an involuntary shudder. _Thank god for Jellal._

"I'm surprised Cana isn't here either," Levy added, finishing off the frosting on her spoon and depositing it into the sink. "I feel like she spends more time here than at her own apartment."

"Oh I can answer that," Lucy smirked. "Apparently Laxus has a date with one of the Mermaid Heel girls tonight and Cana wants to – and I quote – 'be there to watch when everything goes wrong'."

"Supportive as always," Levy muttered dryly.

"Laxus is going on a date?" Juvia finished frosting her cake and looked up in surprise. "Juvia didn't think he was the dating type."

"He isn't," Lucy snorted. "Mira's pretty much forcing him to go."

"Huh, not gonna lie I'm kinda surprised. I thought for sure that he and Mira had a thing going." Levy mused.

"Same," Juvia agreed. "They've known each other since they were kids and I rarely see them apart nowadays."

"Well, who knows," Lucy grinned. "There's still hope for those two. The date might not even work out."

Just as the other girls nodded there was a sudden flash of light.

"Did someone say date?"

The three girls turned towards the doorway to find Loke standing there with a salacious grin.

"LOKE?!" They shrieked in unison.

"Three beautiful ladies in one room; must be my lucky day." The lion spirit winked.

"DID YOU OPEN YOUR GATE AGAIN?"

The celestial spirit walked up to Lucy and put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

"Only because I missed you princess."

The blonde blushed and shoved him away, "Will you stop that?!"

The other two girls giggled.

"Sorry Loke," Levy spoke with a sly grin. "Lucy's only got eyes for a certain dragon slayer."

"LEVY!"

Loke looked rather confused for a moment, "Lucy likes Gajeel?"

At that question, the colour drained out of both Lucy and Levy's faces while Juvia laughed harder than anyone had ever seen her laugh before.

"NOT HELPING JUVIA," Lucy shot the water mage a dark look before turning back to her spirit.

"No, not Gajeel," Levy grumbled.

The lion spirit furrowed his brows, "Laxus?"

"N-no… N-N-Natsu," Juvia gasped out as she recovered from her fit of laughter.

"You and Natsu?!" Loke questioned incredulously, before bursting out into laughter of his own.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT THAT?" Lucy curled her fists in frustration.

"W-wait you actually like him?" Loke stopped laughing and looked up in shock at the celestial mage.

"No! I mean… I guess… I don't know…" Lucy covered her face with both hands, willing the earth to swallow her up so she wouldn't have to continue this embarrassing conversation.

"Does Natsu even see girls in… that way?" Loke scratched his head thoughtfully.

"Well he saw Lucy naked and flipped out so we're thinking there's a chance," Levy snickered, earning a glare from the celestial wizard.

Loke gasped and placed a hand over his heart, "You let him see you naked but I don't get so much as a peep?"

Lucy growled and grabbed her key ring, "OKAY THAT'S IT. GO HOME."

Before she could grab the key for Leo though, the lion spirit vanished in a puff of smoke.

"That damn Loke, he better not go spreading any of that around," Lucy grumbled, shoving her key ring back in its pouch.

"I'm sure he won't," Levy placed a gentle hand on her friends shoulder before turning to the water mage. "So Juvia, what's next on the agenda?"

The blunette perked up at the question, "Knitting!"

* * *

Laxus stood outside of 8-Island that evening, wondering where he had gone wrong.

It was probably the moment when he had first agreed to help Mira with her ridiculous matchmaking schemes. Sure he had gotten to spend more time with her and he had enjoyed that, but he wasn't expecting to become one of the she-devil's matchmaking targets as well.

 _I suppose this is what I get for not being honest with her in the first place,_ He thought bitterly. _Not that it matters anyway. There's no point in telling her now._

At this point, it seemed to be obvious to everyone except for Mira herself that he had a soft spot for her.

"Laxus?" A female voice broke him out of his thoughts.

The dragon slayer turned to see a short, rather round young woman with tanned skin and curly dark hair standing there eyeing him hesitantly.

"Yeah," He attempted to sound friendly but his voice came out low and gruff. "You're that chick from Mermaid Heel?"

" _That chick_?" She looked rather unimpressed. "I think you mean Risley; Risley Law."

"Right, sorry," He grimaced, grabbing the door to the restaurant and pulling it open. "After you."

"Well at least you have _some_ manners," She smirked, stepping into the entryway.

Laxus grunted, following close behind her. Not even two minutes into this date and things were already going to shit.

 _Thanks a lot Mira,_ He thought irritably. _I think it'll be you who owes me a favour when this date is over._

* * *

 **A/N: I'm actually rather excited to continue Lisanna's part. I'm pretty pleased with her upcoming storyline. Natsu will be back next chapter along with the promise of other FT characters joining the fray. I've had some trouble coming up with something for Aries to do so if you have any ideas, feel free to PM me. I'll try to get her in at some point. We'll also be seeing what Juvia's up to next chapter with her knitting and Ultear's reaction to Meredy's "juicy gossip" regarding Gray.**

 **Thanks to those who reviewed :) you guys really make my day! If you haven't reviewed yet, please drop a line! Hopefully I'll hit 65 reviews by the next chapter :) and who knows, if I do, maybe it'll come out early? ;) (Maybe)**


	12. What Friends Are For (Part 2)

**A/N: LOL I literally finished this almost a month ago and totally forgot about it. June was exam season for Australian universities (or at least my uni) so yeah I've been kinda MIA the last month because of that besides reading the occasional fanfic but DAMN I totally thought I'd uploaded this LOL. I'm SO sorry guys. First term is done (our school year is March-November) so I have this month (July) off. I'm gonna try so hard to get multiple chapters done so that update times will increase. I am on vacay next week though so computer time will be limited. I really need to improve on updating though, I was so good at the beginning D:**

 **Anyway, please enjoy and be sure to leave a review!**

* * *

As the three mages entered Juvia's bedroom, Levy realized this was her first time seeing it. When Juvia had first moved in, she had never really invited people into her room; preferring to hang out with her roommates in their living room or kitchen. The room suited Juvia perfectly; sky blue walls, white furniture and a bed with white and blue polka dot bedding.

"Your room is so cute Juvia, I can't believe this is my first time seeing it," Lucy said, echoing Levy's thoughts.

"Thank you," Juvia beamed, grabbing her knitting materials from her bedside drawer.

"So what are we going to knit today?" Levy asked.

"Ooo," Lucy squealed, "Could we try knitting those infinity scarves? All the models were wearing them in the latest issue of Sorcerer's Weekly!"

Levy chuckled, "Of course that's your reason Lu."

"Well winter is approaching so that's actually not a bad idea," Juvia mused. "And I think I actually have that issue…" The water mage walked over to her desk and pulled open the various drawers to look for the magazine. "It's gotta be somewhere in here…"

"We'll help you look Juvia!" Levy offered, walking towards a large white wardrobe. "Hmm maybe it's in here." She mused, grabbing hold of the door handles.

When Juvia turned around to see where the script mage was looking, she was too late.

"LEVY NO!"

The small blunette moved to close the doors but it was too late. Hundreds of dark haired dolls came flying out of the wardrobe, followed by a life-sized version that landed right on top of the script mage, knocking her backwards onto the floor.

Levy lay there blinking, avoiding eye contact with the large doll that lay face down on top of her as she had an idea of who it might be.

"Oh my god," She heard Lucy gasp and felt the giant weight finally lift. "Juvia are these–"

"Gray?!" Levy finally got a good look at the doll Lucy had pried off her.

"Are these supposed to be Gray?!" Lucy's eyes widened considerably as she turned the giant doll in her arms to get a better look at the face. It had the same dark hair and dark eyes as Fairy Tail's resident Ice mage.

"Yes…" The water mage admitted, looking utterly embarrassed. "I created my Gray dolls during a moment of weakness."

"Moment of weakness?" Levy asked while Lucy exclaimed, "You mean you made these?!"

"Yes, I knitted all 47 of them."

"You mean there's only 47 of these things?" Levy looked down at the pile of dolls. It had seemed like a larger number when they had all been flying out of the wardrobe at her.

"Juvia, can I just ask _why_?" The blonde mage sat down on the edge of the bed, placing the life-sized Gray doll beside her.

The water mage looked down at her feet in shame, "Juvia was just so sad after the kiss and I couldn't get my mind off of him. I was supposed to be knitting a scarf at first but then it turned into his face and I couldn't stop myself," The blunette put her face in her hands and wailed. "Ohhh Juvia is so creepy isn't she?! Now Gray will definitely never speak to her again!"

Lucy and Levy exchanged looks.

The script mage placed a gentle hand on the blunette's shoulder, "Don't worry Juvia, we won't tell him. I think I understand why you did what you did anyway."

Lucy nodded, "I think I do too actually. We all have our own methods for coping and this is yours," The blonde eyed the large doll beside her. "Perhaps your methods are a little… unorthodox… but if they worked for you, then that's all that matters."

"That's right," Levy agreed. "Though I think we should probably get rid of these…" The script mage gestured to the pile. "If Gray ever finds them I'm not sure he'll be as understanding…"

The water mage let out a melancholy sigh, "Yes, I suppose you're right…"

Though as Lucy moved to pick up the largest of the Gray dolls, Juvia couldn't help herself.

"Oh, please don't take big Gray," She whined. "He's my favourite!"

The blonde rolled her eyes, "Wouldn't you rather have the real thing Juvia?"

"The real thing won't even talk to Juvia," The water mage pouted.  
"That's hardly fair Juvia. He came to visit you twice while you were sick and you made Erza shoo him away both times." Levy chastised.

"Wait, he came to visit you after you _kissed_ him and you refused to see him?!" Lucy felt a little out of the loop.

"Oh yeah, I think you were at the guild with Natsu both times Lu," Levy said before turning back to Juvia with a hard look. "And yes she did!"

"Juvia, you need to talk to him," Lucy admonished. "You may have put the romance on hold but you two are still friends."

"And the fact that he came to see you after the kiss says a lot." Levy added. "It's not like Gray to do that."

"What would I even say?" Juvia grumbled. "And wouldn't that be counterproductive? Isn't Juvia supposed to be ignoring him?"

"Well, no… he's still your friend isn't he?" Levy explained. "It would be rather hard to ignore the guy when he's a part of your guild and friend group."

"And didn't you say you _weren't_ going to push Gray out?" Lucy questioned.

Juvia lifted her hands to her face and let out a loud groan, "Ugh this is so confusing. Juvia can't even remember what she stated in the first place!"

"You said you wanted to put yourself and your friendships first. Figure out what makes you happy," Lucy rubbed soothing circles on the blunette's back. "And you've been doing a great job so far. You can still hang out with Gray; just make sure you give yourself space if you feel like your emotions are getting the best of you."

"That's right," The script mage nodded. "But first you should talk to him and make sure you're both on the same page. You don't need any more mixed feelings and confusion."

"Then once you two know where you stand, it should be easier to focus on yourself," Lucy added with a smile.

"You're right. Thank you both, Juvia doesn't know what she'd do without you!" The water mage beamed at her friends and pulled them into a group hug.

The other two giggled, "No problem, that's what friends are for!"

* * *

"Another beer, Miss?"

"Oh yeah, keep 'em coming!" Cana snatched the bottle from the server and placed her empty one on his tray before returning to her secluded spot behind an oversized fern in the corner of the restaurant.

The man nodded, eyeing her warily before making his way over to another table.

Knowing Yajima had its perks. Usually this meant a free beer or two whenever the card mage visited the restaurant. Today, it was him allowing the brunette to hide in his restaurant and spy on Laxus with his date.

While Yajima wasn't particularly bothered by the brunette's antics; she couldn't say the same about the server assigned to her. He definitely had his qualms about serving the alcoholic card mage crouching behind the giant fern. Not that Cana gave a damn about what her server thought of her. She was more than content spying on the dragon slayer while sipping on an ice cold beer.

She had managed to convince the server to sneak one of her enchanted cards under the small dessert menu sitting on the far end of their table. He had been rather unwilling at first, but 50 jewel later he was on his way back to the table, card in hand. Thankfully, neither Laxus nor his date had touched it yet. Hopefully they would be too full to even consider dessert.

Cana held another card up to her ear, using it to listen to the conversation happening several feet away.

"So you're a dragon slayer?"

"Yeah, something like that," Laxus grunted in response.

"Why is there only one female dragon slayer in your little group anyway?" Risley's question came out in a rather accusatory tone. "Doesn't that seem a little unfair?"

"Um… no?"

Cana couldn't help but chuckle at Laxus's obvious discomfort. Though she had to admit she was proud of the man. The old Laxus would've lost his temper and flipped a table on the girl after the first question. But here he was twenty questions into his date and somehow still hanging in there.

Risley wasn't making it easy either. Every single one of her questions so far had been either accusatory or invasive. For a proud and rather private man like Laxus, it had to be difficult for him to answer them whilst keeping his temper in check.

"I can't imagine how poor Wendy must feel," The gravity change mage sighed and Cana felt her eyes roll in response. As much as she enjoyed watching Laxus sweat on this date, the other girl was beginning to grate her nerves with all the phony 'feminism' talk.

"I think she feels just fine. She's quite happy at the guild," Laxus responded, twisting his spaghetti around his fork.

"Maybe she just needs more girlfriends in her life," Risley suggested excitedly, completely ignoring the dragon slayer's response.

"We have more than enough _girlfriends_ for Wendy in Fairy Tail," Laxus rolled his eyes. "Trust me; we don't need any more meddling females."

Cana knew exactly who Laxus was referring to when he said that, but unfortunately Risley didn't and her aura grew dark and ominous.

" _Meddling_ … _females_?" She ground out between clenched teeth.

Laxus stiffened as he realized his mistake.

"Man these Mermaid Heel chicks need to get laid," Cana snickered, watching with glee as the chaos unfurled before her.

"Relax, that's not what I meant… I just have friends who–"

"You're telling me to relax?!" The gravity change mage stood up from her seat, attracting questioning looks from other restaurant goers.

Laxus looked positively flustered as he tried to calm the girl down, "No, look I didn't–"

"You male dragon slayers certainly have the manners of a dragon," She huffed, grabbing her coat.

Laxus stood up as well, "Look will you just–"

"Calm down?" Risley finished for him. "No, I won't!" She snapped, grabbing her glass of water and throwing it in his face.

She shot him one last withering look before storming out of the restaurant.

As Cana emerged from behind the fern, she heard the woman muttering, "Don't mess with the chubby" on her way out the door.

Cana slowly made her way over to Laxus who was sitting back down again, wiping his face with a spare napkin.

"You're not great at talking to girls are you?" Cana smirked, sitting across from the dragon slayer.

Laxus looked up and glared at the brunette, "I should've known you'd be lurking around here somewhere."

Cana snickered, "Didn't want to miss out on all the fun."

"You'd seriously call what just happened, _fun_?"

"Well… not for you," She shrugged, picking a fry off Risley's abandoned plate and tossing it into her mouth.

Laxus set the napkin down on his plate and sighed, "I'm no good at this romance stuff. I'm just not the kind of guy who takes girls on dates and whispers sweet nothings in their ear."

"Sweet nothings?" Cana teased.

" _Shut it_." He growled.

"Maybe you could be if you had the right girl," She winked before taking a swig of her beer.

"I doubt it." He grumbled, looking down at his plate.

"Well, at least one good thing came out of this."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Jellal and Gajeel owe me 100 jewel each," She snickered, popping another fry into her mouth.

"Owe you…" Laxus repeated curiously before realization hit him.

"You assholes were _betting_ on this date?!"

"Yep," Cana smirked, not looking the least bit sorry. "Those two said it would go well while I bet that you'd fuck it up somehow."

"Well at least those guys had a little faith…"

"It's not that I don't have faith in you. I just don't think you were with the right girl," The brunette shrugged, finishing off the last of the fries. "And let's face it; you and I both know who your perfect girl is. She's just too busy trying to be the guild's resident mother and matchmaker to realize she wants you back."

"Don't be stupid," He scowled. "I don't like–"

"Spare me," Cana frowned, holding a hand up to stop him. "It's bad enough I have to listen to Gray spout that bullshit. Don't bother putting on your little _tsundere_ act for me, I can see right through it."

Laxus's jaw dropped a fraction at Cana's sudden solemnity but he recovered quickly. He opened his mouth to protest again but apparently thought better of it and shook his head, "Y'know what, fine. Yes, I like her and yes, she's special to me. I have a lot of respect for Mira. But if you tell anyone I'll make sure you regret it. I don't care who your daddy is."

Cana waved off his threat, "Oh relax, I'm not gonna spill your little secret and I'm definitely not sticking Gildarts on anyone."

"Good," Laxus grunted, taking a sip of his water.

"I'm definitely going to help you snag Mira though," She added and watched with amusement as the lightning mage choked mid-sip.

"Why the hell would you do that?!"

"To give Mira a taste of her own matchmaking medicine," She grinned. "And for my own personal entertainment."

Laxus scowled, "There's no way I'm accepting your help. This is all just a big joke to you."

Cana rolled her eyes, "While I do find your dismal love life hilarious, I'm quite serious about making sure Mira ends up with the right guy."

"And you think the right guy for her is me?" Laxus was stunned. He pictured the right guy for Mira being the polar opposite of him; gentle, loving, romantic–

"Yup," Cana cut through his train of thought with her response, popping the 'p' on the end.

"Well you're wrong, the right guy for her is–"

"You," The card mage cut him off again with a wave of her hand. "Believe it or not, you're Mira's soulmate."

"How could you possibly know that?" Laxus snarled, growing more and more agitated by the second. He didn't believe in that soulmate bullshit.

"Why would she want me?" He questioned furiously. "What reason could she possibly have to be with me?"

Cana sighed, "None of that matters Laxus because you're forgetting one very important thing."

"And what's that?"

"Unconditional love means you don't need a reason to love that person; you just do."

He paused, slowly taking in the brunette's words.

"Since when do you spout romantic crap like that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Since now, okay?" Cana huffed. "Get used to it Dreyar. Starting today, there's gonna be a whole lot more where that came from."

* * *

Gray returned to his apartment that evening feeling pretty good after his talk with Lyon and Meredy. He knew he'd have to tell the others about his feelings for the water mage at some point but he was content with just the two knowing for now.

The ice mage was debating whether he should turn in for the night or see what his friends were up to when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ah Stripper, you're back."

He had entered their living room only to be greeted by his roommates and a few other unexpected guests.

Natsu sat cross-legged on one of the plush blue recliners with a sour look on his face while Jellal, Gajeel, Elfman, Sting, Erik and Rogue stood around him.

"What the hell is going on here?" Gray shot the pink haired mage a questioning look.

"Don't ask me," Natsu grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. "One minute I was in my room taking a nap, the next I wound up here surrounded by these weirdos."

Gray looked around the room feeling utterly confused, "Why would–"

"Natsu's got a manly announcement to make!" Elfman interrupted him, pumping a fist in the air.

"I do not!" The dragon slayer kept his arms crossed as he pouted, looking like a child on time out.

"He does but he doesn't quite know what it is yet," Jellal chuckled.

"We've been trying to decode Salamander's behaviour over the past couple of days and we think we figured it out," Gajeel explained, making room for Gray to join their little circle.

"And?" The ice mage asked impatiently.

"Natsu is… realizing some things," Jellal said carefully.

Gray sighed, "Can someone just give it to me straight?"

"Gladly," Erik smirked. "The idiot hit puberty and doesn't know what to do with himself."

"You could also say he's in heat," Jellal added.

Gray burst out laughing, "In heat?! Like some kind of animal?"

"Oh man," The ice mage chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "What's next, finding a mate?"

Natsu scowled at the ice mage while the other boys all exchanged glances.

Sting spoke up, "Well… yeah. It's all part of the whole dragon slayer, raised by dragons thing."

Gray frowned, "That's actually a thing?"

"Of course it's a thing Stripper," Gajeel sneered. "Ever read a book?"

"On dragon mating? No."

"I think it's manly!"

"Of course you do," Gray shook his head.

"Can we please focus?" Jellal groaned right as Natsu began shouting.

"I AM _NOT_ IN HEAT ASSHOLES; IT WAS AN AWKWARD ENCOUNTER," He bellowed. "LIKE ANY OF YOU SISSIES COULD HAVE HANDLED IT BETTER!"

"Tch, any man in Earthland could've handled it better than you did," Erik grunted.

"I'LL TAKE ALL OF YOU ON RIGHT NOW," The pink haired mage roared, standing up in his chair.

"Awesome!" Sting leapt forward but was pulled back by Rogue seconds later.

"Natsu you need to deal with this," Rogue flung his guildmate aside and stormed up to the pink haired dragon slayer. "You could seriously hurt Lucy if you lose control!"

At the mention of Lucy's name, the fire mage stilled before slowly sitting back down again. "What?! Don't be stupid, I would never hurt Lucy!"

"If you can't control yourself, you will. It doesn't matter if you want to or not, if you lose control then that's it," Rogue explained while the others nodded.

"Well have any of you guys hit _puberty_?" The fire mage asked, using air quotes on the last word. "What did you do?"

"Rogue and I have, but we don't have any mates in mind so nothing too exciting really happened," Sting scratched the back of his neck. "We made sure to do our research beforehand just in case."

"Which you should have done," Gajeel snapped. "Didn't Igneel teach ya anything?"

"Um yes," Natsu crossed his arms and scowled. "He taught me loads of cool stuff!"

Jellal sighed, "We're getting nowhere with this."

"Why are you even here?" Natsu addressed the meteor mage. "You're not a dragon slayer."

"I live here Natsu…"

"And Jellal is a pretty smart man!" Elfman added enthusiastically.

"Okay then why are _you_ here then?" Natsu questioned the takeover mage. "You don't live in this apartment _and_ you're not a dragon slayer."

"I don't know actually…" He responded, scratching his head in confusion.

"Don't be a dick Salamander," Gajeel smacked the fire mage upside the head. "He can be here if he wants."

"Ow! Why you– "

"Natsu you need to control this before you hurt your mate," Jellal pushed the dragon slayer back down as he attempted to stand up and fight Gajeel.

"That's not a problem because I don't have a mate," He said grumpily.

"Yes… you do."

"Not possible, I don't want any girl," Natsu crossed his arms once more.

"Yeah you do, you want blondie," Erik smirked.

"Who is bl– wait, you mean Lucy?!"

The entire group sweat dropped.

"Are you kidding me? Yes he means Lucy!" Gray shouted exasperatedly. "We were just talking about you potentially hurting her. Man, your brain really is just a big ball of flames."

"Shut up Frosty!" Natsu snapped at the ice mage before addressing the others. "There's no way Lucy is my mate. We're teammates and best friends."

"Tch, you're obviously attracted to her," Gajeel rolled his eyes at the pink haired mage's protesting.

"Am not!"

"Are too, remember the first guild party you brought her to?" Gray reminded him.

"Oh, you mean the one where you drooled all over Juvia all night?" Natsu shot back with a smirk.

Gray flushed bright red and scowled, "You nearly unhinged your jaw ogling Lucy!"

"I was not ogling her," The dragon slayer protested, cringing as he felt his cheeks heat up. "I just had too much to drink!"

"You had _two_ beers Natsu."

"Shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"SO ANYWAY," Erik practically shouted over the arguing boys. "What's the deal with this mating stuff? What's Salamander gotta do?"

The two boys went silent and looked perplexedly at the poison dragon slayer.

"Shouldn't you know this? You're a dragon slayer too," Gray raised an eyebrow in question.

"Second generation slayers don't have to deal with the dragon instinct type stuff," Erik shrugged. "It only applies to first and third generation dragon slayers."

"Makes sense," Gray nodded while Natsu frowned.

"So Laxus isn't affected by this either?"

"Nope."

"No wonder things are moving at a snail's pace between him and Mira…" Natsu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Everyone in the room turned towards him with incredulous expressions.

"You actually notice that stuff?" Gajeel asked, raising a studded brow.

"Of course I do!" Natsu huffed, scowling at the iron dragon slayer. "I notice plenty of things; like your weirdness around Levy or how Ice Princess has the hots for Juvia."

"Oi!" Gajeel growled.

To everyone's surprise, Gray remained silent.

 _Should I just tell them?_ He thought to himself. _They're gonna find out eventually anyway._

"Oi Stripper, aren't you gonna deny your feelings like you usually do?" Gajeel spoke up.

 _Well, the timing is kinda shitty but… oh what the hell. Here we go._

"No, I'm not." Gray answered; watching the expressions on his friends faces morph from smug to speechless.

"Y-you're not?" Jellal questioned with wide eyes.

"Nope," Gray shrugged. "I like Juvia. I might as well stop denying it."

Gray had been expecting laughter and some teasing thrown in but instead the boys just stood there with stupid grins on their faces.

"Well about damn time!" Elfman grinned, giving him what was supposed to be a friendly slap on the back that instead sent the ice mage rocketing forward.

"Must've been one hell of a kiss," Erik commented.

"Even _you_ heard about it?"

"Yeah, Ultear hasn't shut up about it," Erik snorted, making the ice mage grimace.

 _Damn it Ultear._

"I'm confused," Jellal frowned. "From what Erza told me, Juvia said you seemed kind of uncomfortable and didn't kiss her back."

Gray groaned. "It wasn't like that at all. I was just surprised," He explained. "And when I finally pulled myself together and was about to kiss her back, she booked it out of there."

"Why didn't you go to see her after?" Gajeel questioned.

"I tried but those damn girls wouldn't let me in," The ice mage scowled, recalling being thrown out by Erza on his second attempt.

A few of the boys chuckled, "Yeah that Erza can be pretty scary."

"So what are you gonna do now?" Natsu asked.

"I've got some things to figure out before Juvia and I talk. Hopefully that'll happen sooner rather than later," Gray explained. "But for now, let's focus on Flame Brain's love life since he needs all the help he can get." He smirked as the pink haired mage growled.

"Don't get all cocky just yet Droopy Eyes. Just because you finally admitted your feelings for a girl doesn't mean you're suddenly an expert in romance," Natsu snarled.

"Gihihi."

Natsu turned on the studded dragon slayer, "I don't know what you're chuckling about bolts-for-brains, you haven't even kissed your girlfriend yet!"

The other boys turned towards Gajeel with stunned expressions.

"Seriously dude? It's been months!" Sting shook his head.

"At least I have a girlfriend Blondie!"

"Doesn't mean much if you won't even kiss her…" Rogue muttered.

"LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK SHADOW BOY," Gajeel's temper flared. "ALL YOU DO IS HANG OUT WITH THAT DAMN FROG CAT ALL DAY. HAVE YOU EVEN SPOKEN TO A GIRL BEFORE?"

"Can we all just–"

Jellal was interrupted by Natsu howling with laughter.

"SHADOW BOY? HA, THAT'S A GOOD ONE."

"Shut up Natsu," Rogue growled.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU SISSIES ARE TALKING ABOUT. THAT FROG CAT IS MANLY."

"Can we just leave Frosch out of this?!"

"You guys are idiots," Erik shook his head.

Jellal sighed, "Perhaps we can try again tomorrow…"

* * *

The next evening marked Lisanna's first shift at 8-Island.

By 8:30 her shift was close to finishing and she had managed to make it through the evening accident-free thanks to Mira's training.

"Just one more table to deliver food to and you're done for the night my dear. Good job Miss Strauss, you did very well for your first shift."

"Thank you Mr. Yajima," Lisanna bowed gratefully, turning back to the kitchen to grab the next order up.

As she reached for the two plates sitting on the counter, a familiar voice spoke up.

"Yajima gets a thank you _and_ a bow? Man, I'm jealous."

Lisanna jolted in surprise, nearly knocking one of the plates over. When she looked up, she locked eyes with a certain Fairy Tail seith mage who wore a shit-eating grin on his face.

"She finally notices me," Bixlow gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. "I've been trying to get your attention all night. I didn't realize little Strauss was too good for a lowly line cook."

Lisanna's face burned about fifty shades of red as she struggled to find a response, "N-no I just, I mean, I wasn't–"

He let out a hearty laugh making Lisanna realize he was just messing around with her.

"Bixlow!" She pouted, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you say something when you saw me?"

He grinned, "You looked so focused. It was cute."

The takeover mage felt her face heat up again and willed her cheeks to behave for once. Bixlow was a big flirt and sometimes she forgot that. Sometimes it felt like the compliments, teasing and cheesy lines were all for her but she knew better. She'd heard from other guild members that he wasn't a one-woman kind of guy.

Even so, it was hard not to let her imagination run wild every now and then and imagine she was the only girl he gave his attention to.

"Why are you working here anyway?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Yajima needed some extra hands and the money's pretty good. So when I'm not on missions and want some extra cash I come here to help out." He explained with a shrug. "Freed and Evergreen help out as well."

"Oh, that's nice of you," Lisanna smiled. "Poor Yajima can't do all the cooking on his own."

"Eh, he's a pretty capable guy. But it's always better to have more than one set of hands back here in case something goes wrong."

"Makes sense," She nodded before looking down at the two plates before her.

"CRAP, THE FOOD!" She squeaked, grabbing the two plates in a rush and dashing out the door.

She cursed inwardly as she heard the seith mage's laughter echo from the kitchen behind her.

* * *

The walk back to the Academy's campus was surprisingly nice. Despite it being mid-November, there was still no snow on the ground and the air didn't have that bone-biting winter chill to it just yet.

Lisanna sighed happily, "It sure is a beautiful night tonight."

Bixlow chuckled, "Yeah, not bad for a November evening."

She eyed the seith mage, "You really don't have to walk me back to the school y'know. It's quite out of the way for you, I feel bad."

"Nah its cool," He flashed a handsome grin her way and she felt the familiar heat rise up in her cheeks. "I could use the additional exercise after eating all those leftover fries in the kitchen."

Lisanna giggled, "You're lucky Yajima didn't catch you sneaking fries."

He laughed, "I don't think the old man cares as long as the food comes out on time."

"True." She smiled before looking up and noticing they were nearing the campus.

"You're almost home," He commented, seeming to notice where they were as well. "Bet you're excited to climb into bed after that long training shift."

"Definitely!"

The seith mage chuckled at her enthusiastic response and Lisanna noticed something she – surprisingly – hadn't noticed the entire evening.

"You're not wearing your visor," She observed, eyeing him curiously. "You always wear it."

"Well I did say I'd take it off more for you," He winked, laughing when her cheeks burned bright red.

"Y-you were kidding at the time though, weren't you?"

"I was," He nodded with a wicked grin. "But then I noticed how much you check me out without it on and I couldn't resist."

Lisanna's cheeks puffed out as her whole face flared up once again, "I do not check you out!"

"You're cute when you lie."

"I'm not lying!"

As they approached the gate to the academy, Bixlow whipped her around to face him and placed a finger under her chin to lift her face towards his.

She could feel his forehead resting against hers and his hot breath on her mouth. His odd coloured eyes bore into hers and she found herself mesmerized. It wasn't his magic at work though, it was something else building between them.

" _Denial_ is a pretty cute look on you too; I'll miss seeing it when you finally give in." He breathed the last words so close to her lips for a moment she thought they would touch. But instead he pulled away slightly and moved his lips to her right ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"Sweet dreams, Strauss." He whispered, the words sending a wave of heat through her body to accompany the shivers.

"G-goodnight," She managed to get out but he was already walking away.

* * *

 **A/N: When I was writing this I was re-watching certain FT episodes to get ideas and I watched 413 days and saw all of Juvia's Gray dolls and inspiration hit. Also, I'm not sure if any of you have seen this anime (I only know the English name for it, though I watch it in sub) "Kiss him, not me" - that first scene of the chapter was inspired by a scene from that anime. (If you've seen it maybe you can guess which scene it is? It's loosely based but it's there) It's probably one of the weirder anime's I've watched (though I honestly haven't seen that many so who knows what's out there) but it's fun to watch if you like the romance/comedy genre.**

 ***Also, hopefully Risley's scene doesn't offend anyone out there. I know she's a nice gal, and I'm all for girl power and feminism (not the man-hating kind though) but Laxus needed a shitty date and I had to deliver LOL.**

 **On another note, I rushed through this chapter when I wrote it so I feel like it sucks so if you do happen to enjoy it, please review and let me know so I feel better about myself LOL.**

 *****When you review, tell me what parts you like as well (and who your fave ships are - preferably other than Gruvia because I know most of you love them hahaha. But if Gruvia is your OTP I completely understand ;) I love them too) it really helps with my writing to hear what parts you like and such, I promise. Plus it just makes my day :)**

 **Thanks for sticking with me and my randomly updated fic! Much love!**


	13. It's A Date

**A/N: I'm on vacation right now but I have my laptop and more free time than I thought so here's another chapter OUT EARLY (Shocking, I know)**

 **It's rather short but I'm having major writer's block right now with A Tale of Two Kingdoms so I figured I'd do a small chapter here to get the ball rolling for the next one which will be much bigger ;)**

 **Please review and tell me what you think because your reviews last time really helped me write this :) Like REALLY helped. No lie. Keep it up, I appreciate every single one of them :)**

* * *

"Alright, so what's the deal with this mating business?" Natsu grumbled, planting himself down on the sofa.

After several days of arguing back and forth with his roommates, the dragon slayer had finally given in. He had insisted it was only because his friends were so damn persistent, but truthfully he was worried about what his lack of knowledge and training meant for Lucy. He had yet to understand how they could possibly be _mates_ , but if it did somehow end up being true he would never forgive himself for harming his best friend.

"Well first of all, we need to run some tests to confirm that Lucy is indeed your mate," Jellal sat beside the dragon slayer.

"Like what?" Natsu asked warily.

"Let's start with some questions, like how did you feel when you walked in on Lucy after her bath?"

"Uh… confused?"

"Did you feel your body heat up?" Gray asked.

"Uh, sort of. I'm always hot so it's hard to tell…" Natsu scratched his head.

"What about your heart?" Gajeel tried. "Do you feel it racing around her more frequently?"

"Yeah actually!" The dragon slayer perked up. "It's been doing that a lot recently. I was starting to think I was getting sick or something."

The other boys exchanged looks.

"Yeah, no… you're not getting sick Flame Brain," Gray explained. "It's Lucy doing that to you."

"Really?! How is she able to do that?"

"Okay, I'm done." Gajeel turned to leave but Jellal grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Gajeel be patient," He admonished. "He needs to know this."

The iron dragon slayer rolled his eyes but returned to where he was standing.

"Okay Natsu, let's skip right to it," Jellal sighed. "When you saw Lucy that day, what did you want to do?"

"Gross, I don't want to know that," Gray wrinkled his nose.

"Shut up Stripper, I don't want to either but Salamander is dense and this is important," Gajeel snapped.

"I wanted to leave?"

"You're obviously lying," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "When you saw bunny girl… _y'know_ … what did you want to do?"

Natsu grumbled, "Okay fine, I kinda wanted to look."

"And?"

"Maybe get closer?" Natsu admitted, his face glowing crimson.

"And?"

"Argh no more! I don't wanna talk to you jerks about this!" The pink haired boy growled, covering his face with his hands.

Jellal chuckled, "That's fine. I think we've made some progress."

"So what do we do next?" Gray asked.

"Next we test him in situations involving Lucy," Jellal answered before turning to the fire dragon slayer, "And that means you'll have to interact with her Natsu."

The boy crossed his arms with a pout, "I don't wanna!"

"Wait, you two haven't spoken since your little spat?" Gray raised an eyebrow in question.

"Nope."

"You're an idiot Natsu."

"Oi!"

"That settles it then," Gajeel cut in. "It's Sunday tomorrow, no school, so we'll take Salamander to the guild and test him with Lucy."

"And if you try to get out of it Natsu, I'll send Erza after you," Jellal grinned, watching the pink haired boy recoil at the threat.

"…Fine."

"Gihihi, this should be interesting."

* * *

Laxus returned from his week-long mission feeling refreshed. It had been just what he needed after that date from hell. Much to the Thunder Legion's dismay, he had chosen to take the mission alone. As much as he appreciated having them around, he had needed some alone time to collect his thoughts and confront his growing feelings.

That's right – _growing_ feelings. After his hellish date and heart-to-heart with Cana, the lightning mage found himself unable to get the eldest Strauss sibling out of his head.

It had started with simple objects in market stalls reminding him of the takeover mage and grown to lingering thoughts and daydreams. Eventually, she began to occupy his dreams at night.

Every single night on his mission; that's how often he dreamt about Mira. It was embarrassing to say the least. He couldn't think of a single person he'd ever admit that to. But it was the unfortunate truth.

He groaned inwardly. _As each day passes these feelings will only grow, while she remains blissfully unaware._

"Laxus, you're back!"

 _Oh no._

A whole week suddenly didn't feel long enough as he looked up to see the silver haired beauty making her way over.

"How was your mission?" She asked with a bright smile as she approached him.

"It was good," He grunted, feeling the tips of his ears burn. "Easy job, good money."

"That's great!" She responded with her bright smile still intact. "I'm glad you're back safe."

"Thanks," He nodded, looking around the guildhall for someone to pull him out of this conversation. Instead he locked eyes with Cana who winked and turned back to her barrel.

 _Thanks a lot, Alberona._

"I have a surprise for you Laxus," Mira's voice cut through his thoughts.

He scowled, "I don't like your surprises."

"I think you'll like this one!"

"I really don't think I will."

"It's another date!" She beamed, clapping her hands together.

He felt his heart drop to his stomach. "I was right; I don't like this one bit."

Mira frowned, "Oh c'mon Laxus, I think she'll be a good match for you!"

"Like you thought the last one would be?"

She chuckled nervously, "Okay so that was a minor miscalculation on my part, but I'm positive I got it right this time!"

"No thanks," He growled, stalking past her towards the bar. He took a seat on the bar stool next to Cana, who had been watching the exchange with great interest.

"I think you should do it," The card mage spoke so quietly he almost missed it.

"What?" Laxus asked incredulously, glancing from the brunette back over to Mira who had decided against following him to the bar and was now clearing one of the tables in the guildhall.

"I think you should go on the date."

Laxus stared at the brunette, waiting for her to smirk or burst into laughter but she remained straight faced.

"Are you serious?" He couldn't believe his ears. Didn't she want him to be with Mira?

"Yes, I am," She whispered conspiratorially. "Mira told me who your next date is going to be. I think going on this date is the perfect way to make her jealous."

"Jealous?" Laxus repeated, stunned. "Don't be ridiculous. Who could possibly pose a threat to Mira?"

"Jenny Realight," Cana answered with an evil grin. "She's Mira's competition in the modelling world and now she's going to be her competition in the dating world."

"That flirt from Blue Pegasus?!" Laxus frowned. "Mira seriously thinks _she_ is a good match for me?"

Cana shrugged, "Mira may love matchmaking but no one ever said she was good at it."

Laxus snorted, "Ain't that the truth."

"You still need to go on this date though."

Laxus sighed, "I'm too old to be playing dumb games like that, Cana."

"Please Laxus, you have to," The brunette practically begged, surprising him. Cana Alberona was certainly not one to beg for anything. She was the type who would take what they wanted and be on their merry way.

"Why do you care so much?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"Because it's in the cards!"

"The cards?" He repeated dumbly.

"Yes Laxus, my cards never lie and you know that," She snapped. "You have to do this."

He groaned and rubbed his forehead, "Fine."

"Oi, Mira," He called to the barmaid who was standing a few feet away clearing a table. She perked up. "I'll go on that damned date of yours."

"You will?!" She smiled so brightly he saw stars for a moment.

"Yeah," He grunted. "But this is the last time!"

"Oh thank you Laxus!" She squealed, running up and giving him a hug.

The lightning mage felt his whole body heat up at the physical contact but kept still. When she released him, she still had that dazzling smile on her face and for a moment he felt faint.

"I'll go call Jenny right now!"

Those words brought him back down to earth with a thump as he watched her run towards the Master's office.

He turned back to the card mage with a scowl, "I hope you're happy."

Cana smirked, "Happier than that blue cat with a fish."

* * *

When their session with Natsu came to an end, Gray had decided to go for a walk to clear his head. The temperature in Magnolia had dropped significantly in the last couple of days and he was quite happy about it. After all, what kind of self-respecting Ice Mage enjoys the heat?

After over an hour of walking, he decided to return to his apartment. It was getting close to dinner time and he hadn't eaten since breakfast. He had skipped lunch with his friends knowing Juvia would be there. He wasn't sure if he was welcome around her just yet.

The ice mage sighed as he walked up the stairs. He didn't want to rush Juvia or make her feel uncomfortable but he definitely thought they should talk about what happened – especially since there seems to be a few misunderstandings stemming from it. He just wasn't sure how to do that without crossing a line.

As Gray unlocked the door to his apartment, he felt his foot slip on something. He looked down and saw a small blue envelope with his name on it sitting on the ground in front of the door.

The handwriting was elegant and wavy, reminding him of a certain water mage.

 _Juvia._

"Could this be from Juvia?" He whispered to himself with wide eyes, clutching the envelope tighter in his grip.

He wasted no time rushing inside the apartment, locking the door and running into his bedroom.

Gray carefully opened the envelope and then the letter with trembling fingers. He didn't know if it was going to be good or bad but at this point he didn't care. He was just happy Juvia was saying anything at all, even if it was via letter.

 ** _Gray,_**

 ** _I'd like to talk about what happened. Please meet me in front of the Guild tomorrow at Noon._**

 ** _Juvia_**

The ice mage sighed. He had been hoping for more but at the same time he was glad he would be able to talk to Juvia properly in person.

 _Tomorrow it is,_ He thought to himself with a smile. _Can't wait._

* * *

 **A/N: So FINALLY next chapter Gray and Juvia are going to talk and we're gonna see Natsu try to figure out if Lucy is his mate. Should be fun!**

 **** Also, I created a poll on my profile. I'm trying to decide between two ships for Rogue and I'd looooove your input. I personally ship him more with Kagura (I think their personalities work better) but I feel like he's shipped more with Minerva (same guild and such). I dunno, I'm happy to write for either one but I need some other opinions to help me decide :)**

 ** _^^ Please take the 10 seconds to visit and vote because then I won't have to put this in the AN of every chapter ahead LOL.  
_**  
 **And to the reviewers from previous chapters who commented on the difficulty of doing a multi-couple fic. YES. YES IT IS SO DIFFICULT LOL. But I have a lot of fun writing it so it's okay :) I'm gonna work to make future chapters longer, better quality and include more couples.**  
 ** _  
_Thanks for reading, see you next time! (PS - Review)**


	14. Little Talks

**A/N: I'm back bitches! (I've always wanted to say that)**

 **But seriously, I'm still alive.**

 **I unfortunately went through a long period where I lost all motivation to write. Thankfully it finally returned about a week ago.**

 **I've been working on drafts for other fics as well this past week (no, apparently I can't focus on just one fic at a time, I need to make my life difficult) so keep an eye out for those.**  
 **Also, I'll be starting a one shot collection in the near future (probably early November?) featuring all the pairings you see in this fic. I'm hoping the one shots will help me keep my motivation to write. They'll be AU and non-AU and I'll be taking suggestions from readers as well.**

 **That's about it for my general life update... here's chapter 14!**

* * *

The next morning Lucy sat in the guild hall stirring her coffee furiously. It had been several days since she'd heard from Natsu and she was beginning to worry for their friendship. They'd never gone this long without speaking before. In fact, this had to be their first real fight.

"Yikes, what did that coffee ever do to you?"

The celestial mage looked up to see Cana smirking at her before looking back down at her drink. Half the contents had spilled all over the table and one side of the mug had a crack.

"I see you're just as destructive as your fire breathing boyfriend," The brunette snickered.

Lucy bristled at the remark, "Natsu is not my boyfriend!"

"Yet." Cana winked before sauntering back to her barrel.

Lucy let out an irritated huff. Why must everyone tease her about Natsu? It's not like it would ever happen. The guy was absolutely clueless when it came to women.

Yet she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had a shot now that the dragon slayer was… _realizing things_.

Just as quickly as the thought entered her mind, she shooed it out again with a shake of her head.

 _No, just because he has possibly hit puberty doesn't mean he's automatically going to be attracted to me. That's not how it works. He has to choose the girl he wants to be with._

Lucy couldn't help herself as her eyes wandered across the guildhall to where the youngest Strauss sibling sat across from Bixlow chatting happily. Lisanna and Natsu had a whole childhood together and still remained good friends. So it made sense for the two of them to end up together someday.

However, the way Lisanna was looking at the seith mage across from her told a different story.

"Well even if Natsu is interested in her, it looks like her interest lies elsewhere," The blonde muttered to herself, trying to ignore the relief that flooded through her.

"What kind of weirdo sits alone at a table talking to herself?"

Lucy jumped at the familiar voice, turning around just to come face to face with the boy who had been plaguing her thoughts for the past week.

"Natsu?!"

"The one and only," He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as he looked anywhere but at her.

"So… are we speaking again?" Lucy asked slowly, trying to gage his reaction.

Natsu's eyes widened a fraction at the question before he recovered, "Y-yeah… or at least I'd like to…"

The blonde let out a sigh of relief, "I'd like that too Natsu."

The dragon slayer returned the smile with another nervous chuckle, "I'm sorry for being such a jerk Lucy."

"I'm sorry too, Natsu. I'm glad we're still friends."

This time Natsu's jaw nearly unhinged, "Oi, why wouldn't we still be friends?!"

Lucy smiled. Of course Natsu hadn't been taking the fight as seriously as she had.

"I don't know," She giggled at the outraged expression on his face. "I guess that was a pretty crazy thought."

"Damn right it was!"

The celestial mage giggled again. For the first time in days, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She and Natsu were as good as ever. There had been nothing to worry about all along.

Or so she thought.

The dragon slayer slowly sat down across from her looking incredibly uncomfortable all of the sudden.

She raised an eyebrow as he continued to shift around in his seat, looking towards the back of the guild hall every few seconds. "Uh, Natsu? Are you okay?"

He whipped around to face her again, "Y-yeah, totally… just hungry."

"Ah, well in that case I'll go order you something to eat." The celestial mage shot him a conspiratorial grin before standing up, only to be yanked back into her seat a moment later. She frowned at the dragon slayer, "Natsu, what are you doing?"

"Can we talk?" He looked uncharacteristically nervous as he spoke. "Please?"

Lucy frowned. Was Natsu in some kind of trouble? She had never seen him act this way before.

"Natsu, is there something you're not telling me?"

Clearly that had been the wrong way to approach the situation. The dragon slayer tensed up, meeting her gaze with his distressed one.

"N-no, why w-would–"

"Salamander!"

Lucy looked away from her friend to see Gajeel and Jellal sit down on either side of him. While Jellal's expression seemed sunny enough, Gajeel looked as grim as Natsu did.

Before Lucy could greet her classmates, Natsu let out a low growl, "Get lost you bastards."

"You need us." Gajeel growled back.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"It's good to see you Lucy." Jellal spoke directly to the blonde, ignoring the two dragon slayers completely. "How have you been?"

"Good, thank you," She smiled despite her confusion. She couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Natsu. Whatever it was; Gajeel and Jellal seemed to be heavily involved. "How about you?"

"I'm good, thanks for asking." Jellal returned the smile, resting a hand over top of hers. While the gesture didn't come across as flirtatious in the slightest, it was still rather odd. Before Lucy could question it though, Jellal was sent flying into the nearest table.

"Natsu!" She turned to the dragon slayer with a scowl. "Why did you punch him?"

The pink haired boy didn't even spare her a look, keeping his fiery gaze on the meteor mage who was already on his feet again. "He knows why."

Just as she thought she couldn't be any more confused, Gajeel began laughing.

"You should be thanking him Salamander. He just got us our answer."

"What answer?" Lucy couldn't help butting into the conversation. She was totally lost. "What is going on here?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." Jellal reappeared at their table, a little bruised but overall fine. He turned to the two other boys, "Shall we go then?"

"Hey– I–" Natsu's protests were cut off when Gajeel grabbed him by the collar and began to drag him towards the door.

"Oi, wait, I ain't done talking to Lucy yet!"

"You'll get your chance after we've had our little talk." Gajeel snickered.

The fire mage put up quite the fight but Gajeel was determined. He dragged Natsu back through the entrance of the guild and before the celestial mage could get another word in, the door slammed behind them.

Lucy sat there, stunned.

"What the hell just happened?"

* * *

Gray stood by the entrance of the guild hall waiting for the water mage. Despite the shining sun and clear blue skies, the crisp November air kept the citizens of Magnolia bundled up.

The ice mage stood out in the crowds of people, wearing a singlet and shorts. He remained unbothered by the odd looks he received. When one has a stripping habit, one gets used to receiving odd looks. He was just grateful he'd managed to keep all articles of clothing on so far.

"Gray?"

The ice mage had been so busy staring off into space he hadn't noticed the blunette appear next to him.

"Juvia!" He greeted, turning to face the water mage. "How are you?"

"Juvia is good, thank you," She smiled brightly, causing his stomach to do a little flip. He hadn't seen her once in the last three weeks and her smile was like sunshine to him.

"Juvia I–"

"Do you mind if I go first, actually?" She cut him off almost immediately. "I'm sorry; I just really need to say this."

Gray swallowed, preparing himself for the worst. "Sure, go ahead."

The water mage took a deep breath and met his gaze.

"Juv– I like you, a lot. You know that. But Juvia doesn't know how to go about this romance stuff. I get obsessive and anxious. I get jealous," She paused, looking guilty. "Juvia called Lucy 'love rival' once… well, maybe twice." The blunette twiddled her thumbs together, no longer looking at Gray. "So Juvia has needed this time to find herself, and figure out what other things make her happy besides Gray. It's been going very well and I've been feeling better than ever for the first time in years." She managed a small smile, looking back up at the ice mage, who was smiling fondly back at her. Her heart sped up in her chest. She wanted to curse herself for being so affected by him, but she didn't. She was more in control now than ever. She was ready for the next step.

"Juvia has a proposition…" She began, watching him for any signs of discomfort. But he simply nodded. "Could we start over? As friends?"

Gray's serene expression morphed into a puzzled one. "Weren't we always friends…?"

Juvia shook her head, "No. I mean, yes! But for now, I'd like to put all the romantic stuff aside completely and forget about it. Instead, we could get to know each other better as friends and… oh Juvia's idea is ridiculous isn't it?" She wailed, covering her face with her small hands.

"No no no," Gray panicked, waving his hands in front of him. He realized his confusion was probably giving her the wrong idea. "No, it's a great idea Juvia. I was just a little confused at first. That's all."

"Really?" The water mage looked up with a hopeful expression. "You like the idea?"

"Yeah, I do. I think a fresh start is just what we need." He grinned. "And if we ever decide we… y'know, want to be more than… y'know. We could y'know… do that." The ice mage turned away to hide the blush spreading across his face, but Juvia caught a glimpse of it.

Gray's words had her heart hammering and her cheeks as red as his. The blunette had woken up today expecting the worst but as usual, Gray was full of surprises. He was trying to keep his cool demeanor intact but she saw right through it.

"Thank you Gray," She smiled softly at him, reveling in the blush that reappeared on his face once more.

"N-no problem," He looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

Before they could say anything more, loud voices sounded from inside the guild and suddenly Gajeel came bursting out the door with a death grip on Natsu's jacket while Jellal strolled calmly beside them.

"Juvia. Stripper." The iron dragon slayer greeted, never slowing down. Natsu continued to shout his protests until he noticed Gray and Juvia standing there.

"Oi Gray, help me!"

The ice mage sighed, "Sorry flame brain, you're on your own bud."

"Leave them alone Natsu, they've got some talking to do," Jellal said calmly, keeping pace with the larger dragon slayer. "And so do we."

Once the odd trio disappeared around a corner out of sight, Gray turned to the water mage.

"Yo Juvia," He said, bringing her attention back to him. "Want to celebrate our fresh start with some lunch at the guild?"

Juvia smiled, "I'd like that."

* * *

"So it looks like Gray and Juvia are speaking again."

Mira looked up from the mug she was cleaning to see the two mages at a table near the door, chatting happily.

"I'm so glad," She beamed, setting the mug on the drying rack behind her. "I've been rooting for those two for a while."

"You'll root for anyone," Cana rolled her eyes, downing the last of her beer. She slid it across the bar top towards Mira, indicating she wanted a refill. The takeover mage obliged, filling it once more and sliding it back towards the brunette.

"That's not true; I'm very selective with my pairings."

Cana raised an eyebrow, "Jenny and Laxus?!"

Mira frowned, "What's wrong with them?"

"Oh c'mon Mira you can't be serious," Cana groaned. "Laxus is one of your closest and oldest friends and Jenny is your rival. You don't even like her that much!"

"I think everyone deserves a second chance and I think Laxus would be a good match for Jenny." The takeover mage shrugged.

"How so?"

"Well…" Mira tapped her chin as she tried to come up with something. After a minute of silence, she realized that perhaps Cana was right. "Okay, so maybe they're not the best match…"

"Of course they're not. Jenny likes guys she can manipulate and wrap around her finger. Laxus doesn't put up with any of that bullshit." Cana said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Well if you're such an expert, who do you think Laxus should be with?" Mira asked exasperatedly, placing her hands on her hips.

The look Cana gave her made her uneasy. It was Cana's classic mischievous smile and nothing good ever came from it.

"Isn't it obvious?" The brunette's eyes gleamed, "You."

Mira couldn't stop her jaw from dropping while Cana, who looked much like a predator circling its prey, was watching her, her lips curled up in an impish grin.

Mira managed a nervous chuckle, "Don't be silly Cana. I've known Laxus since we were kids. We're just friends."

"But you don't have to be. C'mon Mira, would it be so bad to have a guy like Laxus?" Cana finished her drink and slid her mug back to Mira for a refill but the barmaid ignored it, focusing on the question she'd just been asked.

"Well no… but I do have Laxus! As a friend!"

Cana groaned, "You know what I mean Mira."

Mira smiled, "You don't need to set me up Cana. I'm quite happy with where I'm at. Besides, I have a lot of fun pairing up my guildmates. I don't need to involve myself in that."

"Yeah but it's not like you need to do any pairing up anymore. Half the people in our guild are in relationships or well on their way to one." Cana argued, giving her mug a small shove in Mira's direction hoping she'd take the hint.

Instead Mira leaned on her elbows on the bar, resting her face in her hands. "I guess that's true."

"Of course it's true. What are you going to do, stay single until every last person in this guild is matched up?"

"I guess not…"

"Exactly!" Cana slammed her hands down on the bar in excitement. "So at least consider Laxus. I mean, think about it Mira, you guys are perfect for each other."

Mira giggled, "Laxus and I? Perfect? I don't think so."

Cana snorted, "Okay, maybe perfect isn't the right word. But you guys balance each other out with his tough guy act and your motherly personality. You both treat your guild like your family and would do anything to protect it. Makarov is officially his grandpa but he's basically yours too. The two of you know each other better than anyone because you grew up together in Fairy Tail. I guess the only thing in question is your chemistry. The rest of us see it but do you feel it?"

"Chemistry?" Mira's lips twisted into a frown. "I've never even thought about this before so I don't know."

"Well next time you're around Laxus, look for it. Does your heart speed up? When he touches you do you get that tingly feeling?"

"I'm sure I won't," Mira smiled at the card mage. "Laxus is a dear friend and guildmate. That's it."

"Fine, don't listen to me," Cana grumbled. "But if I'm right and you two get married, you owe me an open bar at the wedding."

"Deal," Mira giggled. "Now I better go call Jenny and cancel that date."

"Woah woah woah," Cana grabbed the takeover mage by the arm. "Why would you do that?"

"Um, because you told me Jenny isn't a good match for Laxus?"

"So? You can't just take away my entertainment like that!"

Mira giggled again, "Oh Cana, you're so silly. I'm not sure that's fair to Laxus though."

"Trust me Mira, he needs this date. Even if it's Jenny, he needs all the dating practice he can get. He's a big boy, he can handle himself."

Mira sighed, "Okay fine but if he gets angry at me like last time I'll be sending him your way."

"Oh don't worry," Cana rose from her seat with a sly grin. "This will be nothing like last time."

* * *

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Erza asked for the third time since she'd entered Jellal's apartment. He had told her he had a surprise for her and her curiosity was growing by the second.

"We're almost there," Jellal chuckled, guiding her into the kitchen. He arranged a few items on the counter and placed a small vase with roses on the windowsill before walking over to his girlfriend. "Okay, you can open your eyes."

The requip mage opened her eyes and looked around the room in confusion. She had been expecting a picnic or romantic meal of some sort but instead there were pots, pans, utensils and various ingredients strewn across the counter.

Jellal chuckled, "Don't worry; the surprise isn't a messy kitchen."

Erza turned to him with a puzzled expression, "Then what is it?"

"Erza Scarlet, today I'm going to teach you how to cook."

* * *

 **A/N: The Jerza scene will be continued in the next chapter. I'm tired and just want to get this chapter up since it's already SO late haha.  
I personally don't like how I've written Gruvia so far, so by writing this scene for them it somewhat allows me to start over a bit with them and give them a better story. So I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone waiting for a big confession from Gray but I think this is a way better route to go. You'll just have to trust me.**

 **Next chapter will feature other couples that haven't had much time so far. It'll probably be longer so I can fit everyone in.**

 **Thanks for reading :) Pleeeease review, I love them oh so much!**


	15. Envy

**A/N: Well, my updating times are getting better. Let's hope I can keep it up.**

 **Enjoy this chapter! I'm starting you guys off with some Jerza fluff (because who doesn't love those two?)**

* * *

After four hours of fruitless attempts at making a simple stir fry, Jellal decided it was time to throw in the towel.

Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend was never one to give up so easily.

"I really think I've got it this time Jellal!" Erza finished stirring the pot and attempted to pour some rice into one of the serving bowls. However, when it refused to move from its place in the pot, the requip mage banged on the end of the pot repeatedly.

"Erza I'm not sure that's a good id–"

Jellal's last word died in his mouth as a giant, pot shaped mound of rock hard rice slid right out of the pot and landed on the tiny serving bowl, effectively crushing it beneath its weight.

The two stood there gaping at the mess for a good minute before Jellal chuckled. "Well that's new. We've burned the rice, turned it to paste and undercooked it but this is the first time it came out solid."

Erza bowed her head in shame, "I really am bad at this, aren't I? I'm sorry Jellal."

The meteor mage chuckled, "There's nothing to be sorry for. Besides, it's impossible for one person to be good at everything; even you, the great Titania."

Erza blushed at the nickname. The only time it ever affected her like that was when Jellal said it.

"I suppose you're right… It's a shame though because now we have nothing to eat." She sighed.

Jellal grinned. "Well I wouldn't say that." He opened the fridge and pulled out a large pink box. "Any guesses on what's inside this box?"

Erza squealed with delight as he set the box down on the kitchen table. "I don't need to guess! I can smell the strawberry goodness from here!" She grabbed Jellal and planted her lips firmly on his before releasing him to sit down. "Thank you Jellal. What would I do without you?"

He chuckled, kissing her cheek before sitting down across from her at the table. "I ask myself that same question every day."

* * *

Lisanna was not jealous. Not even a little bit.

She couldn't care less that Bixlow was flirting with that pretty brunette waitress and hadn't even looked in her direction yet. Was she really that interesting to talk to that he couldn't even look away for more than a second? And why did he keep laughing? She couldn't be that funny… could she?

"Earthland to Lisanna!" Lucy's hand flew across her vision, pulling her away from the conversation she was watching.

Lisanna blinked and turned to her blonde friend – who just so happened to be smirking at her from across the table they were at.

"What?" She asked innocently, already knowing what Lucy was going to say.

"Is someone jealous?" The blonde wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, giggling when her friend turned bright red.

"N-no I am not!" Lisanna sputtered; looking out the window of the café they were in to hide her blush.

"Why don't you just tell him you like him? It's obvious he likes you too."

Lisanna scowled, eyeing the seith mage and waitress. "Yeah, _so_ obvious."

"Oh c'mon Lisanna, he's obviously just doing it to make you jealous. There's no way he hasn't noticed you here already." Lucy said, taking a sip of her tea.

"He wouldn't do that." The take-over mage sighed. "He only sees me as some silly kid."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You really believe that? Because I sure don't."

"He's only nice to me because he's friends with Mira and I'm Mira's little sister."

The celestial mage snorted. "Yeah, sure."

"It's true!" Lisanna protested, annoyed her friend wasn't taking this more seriously.

"Elfman is Mira's sibling too. Do you see Bixlow hanging around him all the time?"

"Well… no."

"Exactly!" Lucy grinned. "That's gotta mean something, okay? So quit worrying."

Lisanna smiled. It was a small smile but it was something. "Yeah, I guess. I just don't want to get my hopes up, y'know?"

Lucy's eyes softened with understanding. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean actually." Lucy's thoughts drifted to Natsu's bizarre behaviour that morning. Did it mean something? She was scared to think that it might since it would most likely lead to disappointment. It was hard enough to wrap her head around Natsu having a mate; nevermind it being her.

"Thinking about Natsu?" Lisanna teased. This time it was Lucy's turn to go bright red.

"Of course not." She muttered, taking a sip of her tea to hide her face.

"We're both in pretty similar situations, huh?" The white haired girl mused, tapping her chin with her index finger.

"Yeah, except Bixlow flirts with you all the time and Natsu…" Lucy paused to think. "Well, I don't think I've seen Natsu flirt… ever."

Lisanna couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Natsu flirting with anybody. "That's true; he's not the most romantic guy I guess."

Lucy chuckled. "You got that right."

"What are you two pretty kitties talkin' about?"

Lisanna looked up to find Bixlow standing there with a cheeky grin on his face. She looked around to see where the brunette waitress was and saw her chatting to another table on the other side of the café.

She couldn't help feeling relieved. But only just a little bit, of course.

"Just chatting about Natsu and his inability to flirt with women," Lucy answered easily, while Lisanna remained silent, unsure of where to look.

"Yep, he definitely ain't the most romantic guy in Magnolia." Bixlow chuckled. "It's a wonder he's got that fan club."

"Fan club?" Both girls questioned incredulously, staring up at the seith mage.

"Yeah, the Salamander Fan Club," Bixlow explained, looking a little puzzled. "You seriously haven't heard of it? It's gotten a lot bigger over the past couple of months. Especially after a few of the Fairy Tail guys did a spread for Sorcerer's Weekly."

"A spread? Natsu?" Lucy's jaw dropped. Natsu hated posing for Sorcerer's Weekly and he really hated all that fangirl stuff. So why would he agree to something like that?

As if reading her mind, Bixlow said, "He did it for the jewel. Jason offered Natsu a pretty hefty sum if he agreed to be a part of the spread."

"It had to have been a lot for Natsu to agree." Lisanna smirked, enjoying the stunned look on Lucy's face.

"Sure was," Bixlow grinned. "He's been saving up for a while so I imagine that's why he agreed to it. Easy money."

"Saving up for what?" Lucy asked after recovering from her initial shock.

"Dunno. But I'm sure you could just ask him and he'd tell you. After all, you are his favourite." Bixlow added with a wink.

Lucy's face burned bright red as she sputtered at the comment. "F-favourite?! M-me? No… no…"

"You sure are Blondie; anyone can see that." He smirked, before leaning towards Lisanna's ear. "Just like little Lis here is mine."

Lisanna's face matched the colour of Lucy's as she struggled to respond. Instead, her mouth simply opened and closed like a fish on dry land.

"I'll see you at work tonight." He added huskily in her ear, before sauntering out the door; leaving the two girls speechless.

* * *

"JUVIA!" Lucy pounded on the water mage's door, not caring how loud she was. She had to know. She just had to.

The water mage opened the door almost immediately, looking very confused. "Lucy? What's wrong?"

"Do you have the Sorcerer's Weekly issue from August where the boys posed for that spread?" Lucy asked, hating how desperate she sounded.

Juvia blinked. "Of course I do, Gray is in it." She said, like it explained everything. Which, in a way, it kind of did.

"Can I see it?"

"Right now?" Juvia blinked again. "I mean, yes you can, but I thought you owned every issue of that magazine?" The blunette said, opening the door further so the blonde could come in.

"Apparently not." Lucy grumbled, walking inside.

The water mage walked over to her desk and sifted through a pile of magazines until she pulled out the one she was looking for. "Got it!" She called triumphantly, before handing it to the blonde.

"Thanks Juvia." Lucy grinned, before grabbing the magazine and flipping it open to the middle where the spread was supposed to be. And there he was; the fiery dragon slayer, shirtless in all his glory, posing with a few of their other male guildmates.

"If you're looking for the spread with just Natsu, flip forward a couple of pages." Juvia suggested.

Lucy blushed. "T-that's not–"

"Don't bother lying, Juvia can see right through you." The water mage giggled. "Besides, this is the only issue Natsu has been in recently. He doesn't like photoshoots or publicity much."

"Fine, I'm curious. I can't help it." Lucy conceded, following Juvia's instructions.

When she reached Natsu's page, she felt her jaw drop and her face burn. There could even be steam coming out of her ears for all she knew. It was hard to say, since she couldn't keep her eyes off the images in front of her.

The two page spread had a picture of Natsu on each page with a few interview questions scattered along the bottoms of both pictures. In one, the dragon slayer was in a slim black suit with a white dress shirt. The dress shirt was left unbuttoned all the way so his toned chest and stomach were on full display. In the other, he was on a beach – surrounded by girls, to Lucy's immense displeasure – in nothing more than a pair of swimming trunks. One of the girls in the picture had her arms wrapped around one of his muscular biceps while she leaned on him. The other girl was standing behind him and had both arms around his neck, grinning happily over his shoulder.

The worst part of the picture though was the giant grin on Natsu's face. He actually looked happy to be there!

Lucy scowled at the magazine and felt her stomach tighten into a knot. Seeing Natsu there with all those girls, looking genuinely happy, made her feel… gross. She suddenly didn't feel as special as she had before; which seemed silly, but she couldn't help it.

Juvia, noticing the expression on her friend's face, pried the magazine from her hands. "Don't overthink it Lucy, it's just a photoshoot. You've done plenty of them, remember?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah… I suppose."

"You can tell me how you feel you know," the water mage smiled softly. "Juvia guarantees she'll understand better than anyone."

At that, Lucy laughed. It was true. Juvia definitely wasn't one to pass judgement in the romance department.

"I know it sounds selfish, but I guess I kinda just got used to Natsu being the silly guy who wasn't all that aware of girls and never flirted a day in his life." Lucy explained, bowing her head. "And now he's all slicked up with tanning oil with girls all over him and a fan club that's steadily growing and I just…" She broke off, not sure how to continue.

"Juvia understands." The blunette placed a comforting hand on her friends shoulder. "I never liked Gray's fan girls either. I still don't, if I'm being honest." She grinned. "But Juvia knows you don't have to worry. It's obvious to everyone – except you apparently – that you're special to Natsu. You are in no danger of losing him."

Lucy pulled the water mage in for a hug. "Thank you Juvia."

"Of course," The water mage replied. Then she suddenly pulled away. "But I'm afraid we can't chat for much longer as I have somewhere to be."

"Oh really?" Lucy asked with interest. "With Gray?"

The blunette shook her head. "No, with an old friend from Phantom Lord actually – don't worry, he's not a bad guy." She added when she saw the look of alarm on Lucy's face. "He teaches at the academy actually. His name is Totomaru."

"Totomaru?" Lucy repeated, trying to remember where she'd heard that name before. "Are you two dating?"

Juvia flushed. "No, not at all. You know my feelings for Gray. I just enjoy Totomaru's company."

"Hmm, interesting."

"I wonder if I should tell Gray about him and mention that we're just friends." Juvia mused.

Lucy shook her head furiously. "No way are you doing that."

The water mage frowned. "Why not?"

Lucy shot her an evil grin. "Because Gray has had it way too easy so far; I think it's time to even out the playing field a little bit."

* * *

 **A/N: What has Lucy got planned? ;)**

 **I'm already halfway through the next chapter lol... If it were an episode of friends, I'd call it "The one with all the jealousy" (If you get that, I love you) because that is pretty much what it's gonna be. Get ready.**

 **This was just a filler to set up the next chapter so I wouldn't have to put all of this in it.**

 **As always, hope you enjoyed! Leave a review and I'll see you next time :)**


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